IOWA CITY – It would have been easy for Cole McDonald to give up.

The Hawkeye senior right-hander has had a circuitous journey throughout his baseball career. But when Iowa opens the 2019 season on February 15 against George Mason in Kissimmee, Fla., the first Hawkeye to take the mound for head coach Rick Heller’s club will be McDonald.

“[McDonald] epitomizes Hawkeye baseball,” said Heller at Iowa’s media day on Tuesday. “Development, on and off the field, being a winner, he’s all of those things.”

A number of circumstances arose that seemed like they would have made it hard for McDonald to even play baseball in college, let alone start on Friday nights in the Big Ten. He hails from New Hampton, Iowa, a town of 3,500 that sits 40 miles north of Waterloo. The state of Iowa’s summer baseball schedule already makes it increasingly difficult for players to be scouted and recruited, especially those in small, rural towns.

To make matters worse, McDonald blew out his elbow as a high school junior and necessitated Tommy John surgery, wiping out his entire senior season. The best time for him to get college coaches interested was, just like that, gone.

But McDonald was not going to give up. “When I was younger, my dad would give me articles, and say, ‘Hey, this could be you,” remembered the senior. Without much college interest, he went with his father to camps at Creighton and Iowa. It was at the camp in Iowa City in which the Hawkeyes got interested and gave McDonald a chance.

“Who knows if I would have been here if I didn’t go to any camps,” McDonald said. “The opportunity just kind of fell into my lap.”

That opportunity was a spot on the pitching staff, and a chance as a freshman to pitch immediately – McDonald made 8 midweek starts in 2016, his return to the mound from his injury, and posted a 3.33 ERA. Things were looking up.

Then, he endured a sophomore slump.

Moved into the weekend rotation on Iowa’s NCAA regional team in 2017, McDonald struggled, to the tune of a 6.96 ERA in 11 starts. He struggled mentally, as well, and could have fallen into a hole that many pitchers can’t get themselves back out of.

The fact that he didn’t is one of the many reasons that McDonald heads into his senior season as a team captain with a potential professional career to look forward to when the year is done.

“He brings leadership,” said first-year Iowa pitching coach and 12-year Major League veteran Tom Gorzelanny. “He has the mentality, the work ethic … he’s one of those guys you know that you can rely on every weekend.”

McDonald’s leadership qualities, work ethic, and mental fortitude helped him bounce back and put together a strong junior season in the weekend rotation in 2018.

He started off the year in the fall by throwing a no-hitter against the Czech Republic at the World University Games in Taiwan, Iowa’s first nine-inning no-hitter since 1965. In the spring, splitting the season between starting on Saturdays and Sundays, he had a 3.23 ERA in over 55 innings, while striking out 52.

After a late-season scare with his elbow that caused him to miss 2 starts, McDonald returned late in the year to his old self, including tossing his fastball up to 94 miles per hour, a mark that has professional scouts noticing. D1Baseball.com ranked McDonald the 13th-best draft prospect in the Big Ten conference this year.

Not bad for a kid from New Hampton, Iowa, who didn’t pitch an important portion of his high school career.

“The University of Iowa, being on this team, has given me so much, and it’s only right that I try and give back,” McDonald said. “Giving back for me is helping the team win.”

It’s that attitude that will help McDonald be the vocal leader of a new-look pitching staff for the Hawkeyes. McDonald is the only returner of Iowa’s top 4 leaders in innings pitched from last season, a group that does not include bullpen stalwart Nick Nelsen, who graduated.

Iowa may have some questions marks towards the end of its rotation, and throughout its brand-new bullpen, but every Friday night, there will be the same workhorse taking the mound, attacking the zone, and giving Iowa a chance to win.

“I want to show everyone out there all the work we’ve put in,” said McDonald.

“I just hope that kids who might read this, or see me out on the mound, know that it doesn’t really matter where you’re from … as long as you’re willing to work and improve, it is possible.”

The post Cole McDonald’s Long Journey to Iowa’s Friday Night Starter appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In Heller’s 4 years with the program? 4 for 4, plus the team’s first Big Ten championship since 1990 last May.

Heller has led the Hawkeyes to two NCAA regionals in his four seasons. Iowa had only made three in the program’s entire history before he arrived.

It’s not difficult to see why excitement is at an all-time high for the Hawkeyes baseball program. Upwards of at least twenty different media personalities were in attendance for Thursday’s media day festivities, a sight that would have been unthinkable under the previous regime.

“Last year sometimes we kind of crept up on some teams,” said sophomore outfielder Ben Norman. “This year, they’ll know that we’re a serious team.”

The Hawkeyes’ run to the Houston regional last May and abundance of talent returning has already led to some preseason accolades. Junior outfielder Robert Neustrom has been tabbed Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by both Perfect Game USA and Baseball America.

“It’s special, but I still got a ways to go,” said Neustrom, who was an All-Star on the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer. “It was unbelievable,” Neustrom said of his Cape experience. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”

Neustrom has also been noted by several publications as a potential high draft pick in June’s MLB Draft after his strong summer.

“Inevitably, [the draft] is going to be on your mind,” he said. “Nothing’s guaranteed in the game of baseball. I just gotta keep focusing on the process, coming to practice every day, working hard.”

The Hawkeyes will have to replace the power bat of Jake Adams, who left Iowa for the Houston Astros after one season in which he was named Big Ten Player of the Year, as well as stalwart shortstop Mason McCoy, who signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Iowa will also have to contend with the temporary loss of Chris Whelan, who had Tommy John surgery in the offseason and has an uncertain timetable to return.

Luckily, the lineup has a collection of veterans and newcomers to help even out the losses.

Senior catcher Tyler Cropley is back after a year in which he hit to the tune of an .830 OPS and played stellar defense behind the plate. Matt Hoeg, Grant Judkins, and Mitchell Boe are all back after significant contributions in 2017, and all can slide around the diamond to combat the losses of Adams and Whelan on the infield corners. Kirkwood transfer Lorenzo Elion has also taken reps at third and appears likely to be the early season starter.

As for the pitching staff, the Hawkeyes’ outlook is a little more bleak. All three of last year’s weekend starters have moved on, with Nick Gallagher and Ryan Erickson signing professional contracts. Heller named Nick Allgeyer, who missed all of 2017 with Tommy John surgery, as the opening day starter next Friday against Toledo. Cole McDonald, who made 11 starts in 2017, will start on Saturday, with Sunday still up in the air.

“[Being named Friday night starter] is a big privilege,” said Allgeyer, who was a bullpen stalwart in his first two years with the Hawkeyes. “I gotta do my job and live up to it.”

Heller also said that he is playing the waiting game with highly-touted junior college transfer Brady Schanuel. The two-time MLB draft selection pitched limited innings in the winter with a rotator cuff issue, and Heller said he most likely will not be available to start at the earliest goings, instead working mainly out of the bullpen to limit innings and stress on his arm.

The bullpen in total should be a strength for Iowa in 2018. Four of Iowa’s top five relievers from last season in terms of innings – Nick Nelsen, Zach Daniels, Shane Ritter, and Kyle Shimp – are back. Iowa also has a number of intriguing arms from the freshman class including lefties Jack Dreyer and Cam Baumann and right-hander Ben Probst.

“I like the depth of our pitching staff,” said Heller. “The bullpen is really deep and really strong.”

Heller was also excited about the prospects of Iowa’s schedule, which he called the “strongest the program’s ever had.” The Hawkeyes catch no breaks with the Big Ten scheduling, catching most of the projected top teams in the conference – Nebraska, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan. All of those series, besides the Huskers, are at home at Duane Banks Field.

Heller also put together a weekend set with Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma State in early May, during Iowa’s Big Ten bye weekend. “That’s a sign of where the program is,” he said, “They know the RPI is good, it’s a good game for them.” Heller also said that a trio of annual contenders from California – UC Irvine, Saint Mary’s, and Cal State Northridge – will visit Iowa City in future years.

Iowa’s baseball season gets underway on February 16 at the Diamond 9 Sunshine State Classic Series in Kissimmee, Florida. The Hawkeyes’ first scheduled home game is February 27 against Cornell.

The post Iowa Baseball Gearing Up for Start of Season appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa defeated the odds Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, putting together their best complete game as a team in well over a month as they rolled over the Badgers, 85–67.

“We watched a lot of film of the Purdue game”, said Iowa center Luka Garza, “Seeing the lack of awareness, attention to detail … we saw that … and it was hard for a lot of our guys, and we locked into what we needed to do, and we did it.”

Garza stole the show on Tuesday, putting together one of his best games in what has been a miraculous freshman season for the big man. Garza tied for the team lead with 17 points, collected 16 rebounds and more than held his own on the defensive end against Badgers All-American Ethan Happ. Happ finished with 21 points but was kept in tune most of the first half and turned the ball over four times.

Garza’s performance did not go unnoticed.

“He’s a gamer. He’s a warrior. He’s relentless,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “He’s a worker,” said Tyler Cook, “He’s always in the gym, always working on his game … when you got a guy like that, even if you struggle, you never hit a wall.”

Garza’s 16 rebounds are the most by any Iowa player in almost two years. He’s improved almost all aspects of his game since a slow start to Big Ten play in the new year.

Cook added 17 points of his own while throwing down some ferocious dunks to open the second half.

“He had a monster game,” said McCaffery. “I thought he was a big reason why we got the lead we got.”

Iowa did not light up the scoreboard with three-pointers like they have tried to do in recent games, only nailing six threes, but their defense on that same end was steadily improved. After allowing a Big Ten record 20 three-pointers against Purdue on Saturday, Iowa held Wisconsin to just 4 of 18 shooting from beyond the arc.

“We weren’t happy with what we did this weekend,” said Garza. “We locked in, everyone was focused and ready to play with emotion, and when you do that, momentum comes your way.”

One of the key moments in the game came towards the very end of the first half, with the Hawkeyes leading by just four. Isaiah Moss took a corner three that looked to be too strong off the back rim, before bouncing around a bit and falling through the hoop. It put the Hawkeyes up seven, which they would stretch to nine (again via Moss) a few seconds later.

“Oh yeah,” said Moss, when asked if he knew that shot was going in. “The timeout before that, Tyler said he was going to pass it to me, so I was ready.”

The Hawkeyes had been lacking that sort of continuity and preparedness on offense in their last several Big Ten games. If the kinds of messages sent after the Purdue loss continue to resonate, the Hawkeyes could surprise some teams the last half of Big Ten play.

Iowa is back in action on Saturday when they visit Nebraska.

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All those adjectives can be used to describe the character and play of Chris Street, the former Hawkeye great who passed away 25 years ago in a car accident during his junior season. In situations like this, it’s important to seek the help of an experienced lawyer here to navigate the legal process and obtain justice for the victim and their loved ones. On Saturday, when the Iowa Hawkeyes hosted a top-3 ranked Purdue team and honored Street – with his family and dozens of former Hawkeye players and coaches in attendance – none of those adjectives could be used to describe the team’s play.

Iowa fell behind early and never were able to claw back, falling to the Boilermakers, 87–64. The Hawkeyes outscored Purdue in the second half, but a 31-point halftime deficit left Iowa in a hole they could not come out of.

For Purdue (19–2, 8–0 Big Ten), the win marks the end of a four game losing streak at Carver-Hawkeye Arena that dated back six years. The Boilermakers sank 11 three-pointers in the first half and nine in the second half to set a school record for made 3-point field goals in a single game. They shot 61% from deep.

Iowa (10–10, 1–7 Big Ten) took an early 3–0 lead just over two minutes into the game, but would never lead again. Four minutes later, the Boilermakers had hit four threes and held a 17–6 advantage. The Hawkeyes were never able to figure out a defensive plan to stop a staggering offensive attack from Purdue in the first half.

“They shoot it, they can throw it inside, and they can share it,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “They have a special team.”

Purdue’s starting lineup, with four seniors and one sophomore, scored 70 of the team’s 87 points. The only time Purdue struggled to score was late in the second half, long after the team’s starters had departed.

Carsen Edwards, Purdue’s crafty young point guard, led the team with 22 points, including connecting on 6 of 9 three-point attempts. The Boilers’ 6-foot-8 power forward Vincent Edwards (of no relation) had 19 points, including 3 made threes. Dakota Mathias and P. J. Thompson also scored in double figures for Purdue.

For Iowa, Luka Garza led the team with 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor, much of which came during a complete takeover by the freshman big man in the second half.

“I got a couple shots from the outside, got shots from the inside,” said Garza on his second-half performance. “I was feeling it for a little bit there.”

Iowa got unusually unproductive play from Tyler Cook, who was 3 of 8 from the floor and failed to reach double figures in points for just the sixth time this season. Jordan Bohannon also scored just nine, and hit only one three-pointer after hitting five in each of his last three games.

Perhaps the best summation of Iowa’s performance came with just under three minutes left to play in the first half. With the Hawkeyes trailing by 29, a packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena let out sarcastic cheers after a missed three-point shot by Carsen Edwards. Dom Uhl collected the rebound and threw an outlet pass down to Cordell Pemsl, who was all alone for a layup – before it was blocked from behind by a sprinting Vincent Edwards, who turned the block into a layup of his own, extending Purdue’s lead.

Never in the game did Iowa show as much defensive effort as Purdue did on that possession. Even as the Boilermakers continued to sink three-pointers with little effort from the top of the key, Iowa failed to make immediate adjustments to their on-ball defense.

When questioned about Iowa’s defensive game plan, McCaffery pointed to Purdue’s senior big man, 7-foot-2 Isaac Haas, as a reason for why the defense was not guarding the three-point line as hard. Yet Haas only played 18 minutes due to foul trouble and took only one shot – which he made.

Asked if he felt that the messages he was sending to the team, which has now lost five of its past six, were being received, a discouraged McCaffery replied that he has “seen change”. Whatever change he saw did not show up for the Hawkeyes on Saturday morning.

“We’ve just got to keep working,” Bohannon said. “At the end of the day that’s the attitude you have to have during adversity.”

Iowa is back in action on Tuesday when they host Wisconsin.

The post Iowa Outclassed by Purdue on Chris Street Day appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa had 18 turnovers in a 77–73 loss in which the Nittany Lions never trailed Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Tyler Cook led the Hawkeyes with 23 points, and energized the crowd with several monstrous dunks, but it was not enough to stop Penn State’s outside shooting attack. Penn State had zero bench points, relying entirely on the starting guard of Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens, and Shep Garner.

Led by Stevens’ 22 points, the Nittany Lions hit 12 of 23 three-point attempts, including seven in the first half – many of them un-defended. Carr added 16 points and Garner chipped in 12 for Penn State.

“They were definitely in a rhythm early, especially Garner,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “If he has that kind of game, they’re a different team.”

Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon had a rough night, with only 8 points, and 3 turnovers and four assists. The guard-heavy Penn State roster tired out Bohannon and Isaiah Moss, the only two true guards playing significant minutes on the Iowa roster as Connor McCaffery recovers from injury.

Iowa (4–4, 0–1 Big Ten) struggled with turnovers as a whole, with Cook giving up the ball five times (on an otherwise stellar afternoon for the sophomore), Isaiah Moss turning it over four times, and four other Hawkeyes coughing up the ball at least twice. Even an advantage in rebounds (39 to Penn State’s 30) was not enough to overcome the turnover woes.

Penn State (7–2, 1–0 Big Ten) took command early in the game, hitting their first six field goal attempts to jump out to an 11–2 lead that they never surrendered. The only time the Nittany Lions were not in the lead was when the score was tied, 2–2.

Beyond the success of the guards, Penn State also had valuable contributions from sophomore forward Mike Watkins, who was 9–13 from the field and had 19 points. For Iowa, Cook did all he could inside (7–13 shooting, and an improved 9–13 from the free throw line), but saw minimal help from his frontcourt teammates. Luka Garza, Jack Nunge, Ryan Kriener, and Cordell Pemsl had just 13 combined points.

With 12 seconds left, and the Hawkeyes down two, McCaffery and the Hawkeyes elected not to intentionally foul the Nittany Lions, hoping for a turnover – and he almost got one. Nicholas Baer made what appeared on replay to be a clean strip of Carr near the sideline, but was called for a foul, sending Carr to the line to sink the two free throws that ultimately put the game out of reach.

For the Hawkeyes, the loss is damaging, but the players know that the tools are there to succeed. “We have tendencies of showing how great we can play,” said Pemsl. “We’re just trying to figure out how to stay positive and stay on our feet.”

Both teams are back in Big Ten action on Monday – Iowa travels to Assembly Hall to play Indiana, while Penn State returns home for a tilt with Wisconsin.

The post Hawkeyes Struggle in Big Ten Opening Loss to Penn State appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The 2017–18 season will mark the eighth season for Fran McCaffery as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. In his first seven seasons, he has recorded just two wins in the Big Ten Tournament and two wins in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite this, there is plenty of excitement going around the Hawkeye basketball program as the season approaches – and McCaffery is welcoming it with open arms.

“It’s not something that ever concerns me,” McCaffery said at Monday’s Iowa men’s basketball media day press conference concerning the outside expectations. “I think you want expectation. You want your fans to be excited about your team.”

It is easy to see why Hawkeye fans and outsiders are excited about the future of the program. Iowa loses just one contributor from last year’s 19–15 team that reached the second round of the NIT. A team that relied heavily on contributions from freshmen now has more experience and more depth. McCaffery says he has never tried playing 13 different players in a rotation before, so rotations this upcoming season could be a challenge.

“I think we have to give everybody a chance to kind of establish themselves,” McCaffery said. “We have size, we have depth in the backcourt, we have length, and we have guys that can score coming off the bench.”

Last season, the growth and development of youth Hawkeye forwards Tyler Cook and Cordell Pemsl was key to the outcome of the Hawkeyes’ season. Both players made major strides of improvement over the offseason.

“He’s really matured,” McCaffery said of Cook, a 6’9” forward who 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game en route to a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Cook seems to hold that opinion of himself, too.

“Offensively, I feel like I’m unstoppable,” he said. “My pace for the game is so much better … on-ball, off-ball, moving without the ball, my IQ of the game is so much better than it was a year ago.”

The Hawkeyes would benefit greatly from a step forward from Cook, who already established himself as the Hawkeyes’ best big man last season. Fortunately, he will have more help this season. Cordell Pemsl, also a sophomore, made strides to improve his physique this offseason, a move he believes will help him become more agile and more active down low.

Pemsl says he strove to drink a gallon of water per day this offseason, as well as cutting out sodas and junk foods for more healthier options. McCaffery said he weighed in at 235 pounds, as opposed to the 256 he weighed a year.

“My strength hasn’t gone down at all. I feel great,” Pemsl said. “I’m able to spread the floor a little bit, open up shots for other people as well.”

The ability to have more movement down low would be a coup for the Hawkeyes. Iowa also adds two highly touted freshmen big men – Luka Garza and Jack Nunge – who can both work the ball inside and score from outside. Both listen at 6’11”, they rank among the tallest players on the Iowa roster.

“Luka has a 7’1” wingspan … and Jack has a 7’1” or a 7’2” – that takes up a lot of space [in the paint], that’s going to be a lot harder for people to score on,” said sophomore forward Ryan Kriener.

“[Expectations for Garza and Nunge are] very high,” McCaffery said. “They’re incredibly versatile. They come ready.”

In the backcourt, it will mostly be returning faces for the Hawkeyes. Jordan Bohannon entered his freshman season as a bit of an unknown, but after a stellar first year where he sank 89 3-pointers and earned a spot alongside Cook on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, teams will be having to game plan for him much differently defensively.

“They’re going to chase him around,” McCaffery said of Bohannon. “But they did that some as the season progressed … he’s got that relentlessness about him. He’s smart, he’s quick, he’s tough.”

McCaffery even went as far to say that Bohannon, as a high school recruit, reminded him of former NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry.

“He can pull the jumper right in your face. He’s fearless. He’s got unbelievable range.”

Still listed as 6’0”, 180 pounds, Bohannon lacks some of the size of other, more physical Big Ten point guards. His shooting ability gives him the edge over some of his matchup disadvantages.

The Hawkeyes will also have a new, unfamiliar challenge to face this upcoming season, as Big Ten conference play starts in early December for the first time, as the league compensates for its conference tournament being held in New York City in early March.

“The overseas trip [to three European countries in August] helped a lot,” said sophomore guard Isaiah Moss. “Chemistry-wise, finding out who plays together well … getting together and stronger as a team.”

“We do have a tough stretch there,” said junior Nicholas Baer. “It’s something we haven’t had a chance to try out yet, but anytime you have a chance to play against Big Ten competition you’ll be excited and you’ll be ready for it.”

Baer, the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, described perfectly the attitudes of many Hawkeye fans of the upcoming season – excited and ready for it. Iowa’s returning experience and incoming talent could lead to one of the best years in McCaffery’s tenure.

“I have an expectation for the team,” McCaffery said. “I think they have an expectation for themselves, and I’m excited about it.”

The post Iowa Basketball Media Day: Hawkeyes Prepared for Challenges of Upcoming Season appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Unless you’re an absolute die-hard fan of baseball, you probably haven’t heard the name Matt Chapman. After all, it would seem unlikely that a third baseman with a .762 OPS and .231 batting average on the last place Oakland Athletics would deserve any serious recognition. But Chapman is already establishing himself as one of baseball brightest young defensive players, and a cornerstone for a rebuilding A’s franchise to build around.

Before I dive into the statistical reasons for why Chapman is already a better defensive third baseman than show-stoppers like Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado and Anthony Rendon, here are a couple plays showing off his ridiculous arm strength and top-tier baseball instincts.

Here’s Chapman doubling off Trey Mancini at first on a line drive to third base. The arm strength needed to fire a baseball at the speed necessary to get a runner who was less than a third of the way from first to second, and was already diving back to the back, is rather insane, and Chapman made it look routine.

Here’s another example of Chapman’s ridiculous arm strength. Perhaps Nelson Cruz could have beat out that ball if he was running at full speed, but Chapman’s throw still beat him by several steps despite being more than the length of the diamond away and off of his back foot.

Chapman was playing closer to the hole at shortstop here, and plays the ball perfectly, keeping his balance and making a perfect throw to second as he spins to start a double play that left the bases loaded.

It’s clear that Chapman possesses a really strong arm and gets clear reads on the ball on every play. His defensive abilities and arm strength have been lauded for a while – in 2014, his draft year (when he was selected 25th overall by Oakland), Baseball America wrote that “Chapman’s plus-plus is a major asset at the hot corner, where he has the actions and instincts to be an above-average defender.” BA also noted that Chapman touched 98 MPH as a pitcher for the USA National Collegiate Baseball Team in 2013, although he did not pitch in college for Cal State Fullerton. Coming into the 2017 season, Chapman was ranked by Baseball America as the 94th best prospect in baseball, and by Baseball Prospectus as the 100th best prospect in baseball, mostly due to his stellar defensive abilities.

Chapman was called up to the majors on June 15, making his debut against the New York Yankees in Oakland. So far this season (as of games through September 4th), Chapman has played 518 innings in the field, and does not qualify for the batting title, with only 230 plate appearances. The advanced defensive statistics that follow are defined by Fangraphs:

Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR): puts a run value to defense, attempting to quantify how many runs a player saved or gave up through their fielding prowess (or lack thereof).

Defensive Runs Above Average (Def): measures a player’s defensive value relative to league average. Def is the combination of two important factors of defensive performance: value relative to positional average (fielding runs) and positional value relative to other positions (positional adjustment).

Defensive Runs Saved (DRS): rates individual players as above or below average on defense. Captures a player’s total defensive value.

Here are Chapman’s numbers in those stats, with his rank among MLB third baseman in parentheses (no minimum plate appearances):

UZR: 6.9 (3rd)
Def: 7.8 (3rd)
DRS: 17 (T-2nd)

These numbers come in only 59 games – if those numbers are extrapolated to what would be expected over the span of double his current pace (118 games – less than the 137 that the A’s have played this season), he would lead all three categories by a significant margin. Chapman’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) sits at 2.6 on Baseball-Reference and 1.7 on Fangraphs despite his fairly anemic offensive numbers (his .296 on-base percentage is 36th among the 43 third baseman with at least 200 plate appearances). He ranks ninth among all AL defensive players in Baseball-Reference’s Defensive WAR numbers, at 1.9.

A decade ago, Chapman may not even have been seeing the field regularly. Thanks to the introduction of these more advanced statistics, we can see that Chapman has been arguably the most valuable defensive player in the league in the 2 and 1/2 months since he was called up to the majors. But his traditional, and outdated, fielding stats leave much to be desired. He has nine errors and a .956 fielding percentage, numbers that rank towards the middle of the pack of third baseman with at least 500 innings in the field. In the past, managers and general managers would scoff at the idea of playing a third baseman everyday with a fielding percentage at .956, but the game is evolving, and Chapman’s defense can now be appreciated for how stellar it is. He may not be a household name yet, but if he keeps this stellar level of defensive play up, we can expect to see Chapman’s name mentioned above the likes of Arenado and Machado for the title of Best Defensive Third Baseman.

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