Michael Chavis is the 23-year-old rookie first baseman for the defending World Series Champions, Boston Red Sox.
He has had a quietly good season for them batting .263 with 17 homers and 56 RBI through his first 84 games as an MLB player. For a player in his first year in the majors, these stats sound great, and they are but it’s difficult to get recognition for an “average” rookie season when someone like the Mets rising star Pete Alonso is having a possibly record-breaking rookie year.
Chavis has shown that he is a more than capable hitter in the Minor Leagues, with his best year coming in 2017 when he was 21 years old. His season was split between the High-A Salem Red Sox and the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, totaling with a .282 average, 31 homers and 94 RBI in 126 games or 471 AB.
His numbers with High-A Salem were much better which is to be expected, he had an average of .318 with 17 homers and 55 RBI in only 59 games where his stats dropped in every category while playing for Double-A Portland, his average was .250 with 14 homers and 39 RBI in 67 games.
Despite his numbers dropping at the higher level he still proved to be a solid player, getting a hit a game while showing off his power, but even though his hitting is a great part of his game it isn’t the most valuable skill that he possesses.
The most valuable part of Chavis’s games has to be his versatility on defense, he is able to play every infield position, some better than others but he is still able to play all of them. Being that versatile only bodes well for the continuation of his career with the Red Sox and in the big leagues in general.
In his young career, he played shortstop, starting at Sprayberry high school in Marietta, Georgia, which is also where he batted an amazing .580 as a senior. Moving into his minor league career, he started at shortstop as well but was shifted around to third base with the Single-A Greenville Drive. Chavis chose to stay at third until the Arizona Fall League in 2017 where he decided to try his luck at first base after returning from his suspension.
The season mentioned above where Chavis had 31 homers and 94 RBI, was somewhat spoiled when the MLB handed him a lengthy 80 game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PED’s). Chavis tested positive for a drug called dehydrochlormethyltestosterone which resulted in his 80-game suspension from the league.
The Associated Press reported at the time of the incident that it was a drug that many East German athletes used, but that it was no longer sold commercially. Chavis expectedly denied taking any drugs on purpose, apologizing to the Red Sox and their fans for any negative attention brought towards the team.
Once Chavis was called up to the major leagues the Red Sox decided to try him at the one infield position that he hadn’t played yet, second base, knowing that they had Rafael Devers as a lock at third base with Xander Bogaerts at shortstop who just signed a lengthy extension.
His inexperience at that position showed almost instantly, he committed an error and didn’t cover second base on an attempted stolen base during his first action at second. This isn’t the first time that Chavis has played with Devers, they were teammates in the minors back in 2015 and he was more than willing to move anywhere in the infield saying, “Whether I’m playing with Devers or one of us has to change positions – if I’m playing in the game and hitting, I’ll be happy.”
Devers is having a breakout season with an average of .331, 21 homers and 84 RBI. If Chavis can develop in the Red Sox system as quickly as Devers did then they can be a pretty scary duo for the coming years in the MLB.
It’s very possible that if Chavis can continue what he has done so far this year, that he will be able to take home the American League Rookie of the Year award. The Los Angeles Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani took home the award last year and Chavis will have some competition from guys like rising star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on his quest for the title. Starting what should be a long and successful career with some nice hardware for an empty shelf at home would be a solid beginning for Chavis.
