Boston Red Sox infielder Michael Chavis crushed a solo shot out of the ballpark for his first home run of spring training.
It’s only spring training and it didn’t exactly come against the stiffest of competition but when a hitter punishes a baseball to the extent that Boston Red Sox second baseman Michael Chavis did on Wednesday afternoon, it’s going to grab our attention.
Chavis stepped to the plate in the fifth inning of a tie game against the Pittsburgh Pirates but the score wouldn’t remain knotted for long. A breaking ball that didn’t quite break floated over the plate and Chavis crushed it into orbit to give the Red Sox a one-run lead.
Has this ball landed yet?! 😱 pic.twitter.com/xSbyTqg6W8
— MLB (@MLB) February 26, 2020
The deep fly ball flew out of left field like a rocket, clearing everything in the ballpark to presumably land somewhere off the coast of Florida. Thoughts and prayers to Pirates pitcher Robbie Erlin. He may never recover from that one.
Chavis was off to a brutal start this spring, going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in two previous appearances.
The slump was snapped by a first-inning walk followed by a base hit in the third that finally washed away the .000 next to his name in the boxscore. The mammoth home run that drastically altered the perspective of his spring production capped off his day in the fifth inning.
All of a sudden, Chavis is hitting .286/.375/.714 this spring. Those slash lines can change in a hurry in small sample sizes, quickly putting a slow start behind him.
The 24-year-old will aim to build on his promising rookie campaign when he hit .254 with a .766 OPS, 18 home runs, and 58 RBI in 95 games.
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Strikeouts were the biggest issue for Chavis last year when his 33.2 K% was the fourth-worst in the majors (minimum 350 plate appearances). He clearly hasn’t put those concerns behind him based on his first two games this spring.
The power is legit though. We saw that this afternoon with the moonshot he clobbered. Chavis has 30-homer upside if he can stay on the field for anything close to a full season.
Injuries limited his availability at times last year but there’s little reason to be concerned about his health at the moment. The greater threat to his playing will be where the Red Sox can fit him. Mitch Moreland has returned to play first base and Bobby Dalbec could make the roster as a potential platoon partner at the position. That could leave Chavis splitting time at second base with Jose Peraza.
There’s enough versatility with these players to spread out playing time fairly evenly on the right side of the infield. Chavis will get his fair share of opportunities and could earn the lion’s share if his plate discipline starts to catch up with his raw power.
The Ice Horse quickly established himself as a fan-favorite last season, in part due to his head-turning displays of power. We can look forward to Chavis bashing baseballs over the Green Monster at Fenway Park this season and beyond.