A’s third baseman Matt Chapman is good at baseball.
That’s it. End of article, right? Not quite.
What if he could improve on his game? What if he could be better offensively? One small change in his swing could make that happen and have Chapman in more than just MVP discussions.
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SIGN UP HERE CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa did a great job highlighting the 2019 All-Star's weakness hitting at the top of the strike zone.
It turns out, Chappy hit with a .175 average on “pitches in the upper third of the strike zone,” last season. Across the league, the average hitting those balls was .250. He’s not one to attack pitches that are higher in the strike zone.
Chapman's Whiff percentage (swing and miss) also was higher than the league’s average.
This is interesting, but Chapman is far from alone in the situation.
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Red Sox infielder Michael Chavis went through something similar recently. He was struggling with hitting high fastballs. When he was able to stay away from him, it was great. However, the moment he would attempt to swing at these, he couldn’t stop. It was mainly in his head, and those high ones are always a big temptation.
Angels star Mike Trout once struggled with the same thing when he went 9-for-110 (yep, that’s right) in 2014 on those pitches in and out of the strike zone. The next season? He improved so much that pitchers weren’t sure if there were any spots in and out of the strike zone they were able to throw to him.
We all know how he turned out.
Trout credited that success to simply laying off of those pitches. Certainly, that's easier said than done.
So, Chapman’s not perfect with this minute detail, but just about everywhere else in his game, he is.
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Chapman makes contact on those lower pitches and hits with a better average and slugging percentage than the rest of the league.
And defensively. Well, two Platinum and Gold Glove Awards speak for themselves. Just be sure to not hit anything near him.
Chappy … future MVP? We’ll see.