San Francisco Giants Unheralded Star Deserves MVP Consideration

The San Francisco Giants are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They have started to find their form over the last few weeks, climbing back into the playoff picture in the National League.

The Giants are a long shot in the NL West, as they are nine games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. But, they have a legitimate shot for a Wild Card spot, as they are only 1.5 games out.

Depending on how things shake out in their series against the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco could enter the weekend with a wild card spot in hand. That is a huge series beginning on Monday night before playing against the Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox in must-win games.

If the Giants are going to defeat the Braves, they will need some more stellar performances. One of the players who has stepped up the most during this hot streak is third baseman Matt Chapman.

Chapman has been on fire at the plate in the second half. In 23 games, he has recorded a slash line of .310/.414/.619. He has hit six doubles, one triple and six home runs, scoring 18 times and knocking in 17 runs. The cherry on top; three stolen bases.

His advanced stats are all elite since the All-Star break, as he has been scorching in August. He already has four home runs this month, which ties his high for a single month this season despite there being 19 days remaining.

This hot streak at the plate has Chapman with a season-long slash line of .249/.338/.450 with 19 home runs, 60 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He has an OPS+ of 125 to boot.

Those numbers may not jump off the page, but Chapman is putting together an MVP-caliber campaign. He should be in the conversation for the prestigious award, with his performance at the plate being buoyed by the incredible job he does defensively at third base.

Chapman is currently No. 3 in the NL in WAR, per Baseball-Reference, with a 5.5. The only players ahead of him are Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte (6.1) and Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani (5.8).

Even based on FanGraphs numbers, which differ slightly from Baseball-Reference, Chapman is still comfortably inside the top 10 at No. 5 ahead of games on August 12th. The glovework isn’t going anywhere; if he keeps up his performance at the plate, he will command MVP consideration.

San Francisco remaining in the playoff hunt is also key to his MVP campaign. Chapman could be in line for the most productive season of his career, which voters will take notice of as long as the Giants remain relevant in the playoff race.