Matt Chapman named out of the box All-Star candidate for SF Giants

Could the Giants' star third baseman Matt Chapman be on his way to the Midsummer Classic? One MLB.com writer seems to think so. In his most recent piece, David Adler called Chapman an outside-the-box candidate.

Matt Chapman named out of the box All-Star candidate for SF Giants

"Chapman's offense-and-defense combination makes him a worthy candidate as usual," wrote Adler.

The piece of Chapman's all-star candidacy that is out of the box is that his offensive numbers do rank below a pair of other NL West third basemen.

Chapman ranks fourth in runs scored, behind Manny Machado, Eugenio Suárez, and Austin Riley. He's fourth in doubles, behind the same trio. He's second in home runs with 12, but is well behind Suarez, who has belted 19. Chapman also ranks sixth in RBI and fourth in stolen bases.

In the rate stats, Chapman's .243 batting average is fourth, behind Machado, Riley, and Alec Bohm. His .360 OBP is second behind Machado's. His .452 slugging trails Machado and Suarez. His .812 OPS is tied with Suárez in second place, still well behind Machado, who's at .885. ,

So Chapman does not lead NL third basemen in any offensive categories. He routinely finds himself behind Suárez and Machado in said categories. What is the argument that he should make the Midsummer Classic over either Machado or Suárez?

It all comes down to defense. While Chapman does not lead NL third basemen in outs above average, he ranks third, with 3 OAA in 2025. Machado (-3) and Suarez (-4) are both among the worst defensive third basemen in the league.

That explains why Chapman ranks so well in WAR. His 2.4 fWAR ranks just slightly behind Machado (2.6) and well ahead of Riley (1.6) and Suarez (1.3). In bWAR, he ranks even more favorably. According to bWAR, Chapman has been the most valuable NL third basemen (2.9 bWAR), ahead of Machado at 2.7.

When viewing the All-Star discussion from that angle, it suddenly becomes clear that Chapman is among the two best third basemen in the National League. Along with Machado, Chapman deserves to be an All-Star. While it might be a bit out of the box, it makes sense. Of course, his injury does throw a wrench into things, but if Chapman is healthy, he deserves to be there.