Oakland Athletics: Why the A’s can win the AL West
By Bill Felber
Oakland Athletics: Why the A’s can win the AL West
Third Base
Alex Bregman was runner-up in the 2019 MVP voting to Trout, carrying a .296 batting average, a 1.015 OPS and a 162 OPS+. Atop that, he compiled an 8.4 WAR. His credentials are unsurpassed, and entering his age 26 season he is in his absolute prime.
Against most any other American League third baseman, he would easily win the position. He wins it against Matt Chapman as well, but not by a wide margin.
Chapman’s 126 OPS+ may not rival Bregman’s, but it’s quite good. The same can be said of his 6.7 WAR. Beyond that, he, not Bregman, is the 2019 Gold Glove winner at the position. And while he didn’t finish second in the MVP voting, he did finish sixth. That ought to count for something.
Then there are the unknowns, and at third base they loom large. More than any other player, Bregman was the attitude and mindset of the pre-scandal Astros, making him the player most likely to be impacted by the scandal’s exposure.
In 2020, the pressure will be on him in a way it never has been to prove a negative…that his career numbers to this point are not artificially enhanced. Until he does that, it is an open question of how he will respond to a type of pressure he has never faced: the pressure brought about by suspicious scrutiny.
Chapman’s own ability, which is in no question, presents a high bar to measure that performance against.