Red Sox top prospect Michael Chavis proving he belongs in the majors

Michael Chavis has performed so well in his first big league call up that the Boston Red Sox will be hard-pressed to send him back to the minors again.

The Boston Red Sox called up top hitting prospect Michael Chavis when their infield was hit with a rash of injuries. The 23-year old has impressed in his short time at the major league level, which will make it difficult to send him back to Triple-A once the roster starts getting healthier.

It’s only been six games yet Chavis has shown that his bat can play at this level. Ignore the .222 batting average. Chavis has been the victim of some bad luck with a .200 BABIP that is among the lowest in the league. That figure screams for positive regression, a certainty that becomes only more clear when you dig deeper into analyzing his production.

His 26.1 K% does his batting average no favors but it’s not at the point where we should be concerned, barely ranking in the bottom 50 among major league hitters if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. His six strikeouts in only 18 at-bats are partially offset by nearly as many walks to give him a strong 17.4 BB%. This patience a the plate is an indicator that he can handle major league pitching. His ability to draw walks also explains how, despite a putrid batting average, Chavis still ranks second on the team with a .391 on-base percentage.

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Another reason to believe that his batting average will rise to more acceptable levels is that when Chavis does make contact, he’s absolutely crushing the ball. According to Baseball Savant, Chavis owns a 95.9 average exit velocity, which has been topped by only three qualified hitters this season. He also has a well above-average 50.0 Hard Hit Percentage and has tallied three Barrels on 12 batted balls.

Chavis only has four hits in his brief career but he has a pair of home runs and a double among them, giving him a stellar .778 slugging percentage. Chavis joined teammate Rafael Devers as one of only six Red Sox players since 1970 to hit multiple home runs in their first six career games.

We’re still dealing with an extremely small sample size. Just as we can expect his batting average to rise over time, some of these other impressive stats may regress. Opposing pitchers will eventually find a weakness to exploit and Chavis will be forced to adjust. That’s how it goes for any young hitter in their first taste of big league action. There will be some bumps in the road but Chavis has shown that he’s ready for the challenge.

The Red Sox will have some difficult roster decisions ahead with Brock Holt, Eduardo Nunez, and Dustin Pedroia working their way back from the injured list. There won’t be room for all of them but it would be a shame if they can’t find a spot for Chavis considering he may already be the best hitter in that group of infielders.