Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Diamond in the Rough

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded for former highly regarded Boston Red Sox prospect Michael Chavis. Chavis now gives the team a potential diamond in the rough.

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a deadline buzzer beater deal with the Boston Red Sox. They sent lefty relief pitcher Austin Davis to Boston in exchange for Michael Chavis. The deal is pretty straight forward, being just Davis straight-up for Chavis.

Though from the outside looking in, it’s a pretty decent deal for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They give up a 28-year-old reliever who has given up 7 earned runs in 13.1 innings while receiving back a potential diamond in the rough find.

Chavis is a good chance of scenery candidate. What makes him a potential diamond in the rough is his former prospect pedigree. The Red Sox had picked Chavis 26th overall in the 2014 MLB draft. He made his presence known in 2017 when he smacked 31 home runs and put up a .910 OPS. Though Chavis was limited to just 194 plate appearances in 2018 because of a PED suspension, he still had a strong .919 OPS when he was on the field.

The then top prospect got the call to the Major Leagues in 2019 and put up respectable numbers in his rookie campaign. He hit .254/.322/.444 with a .323 wOBA, and 96 wRC+. He showed a decent bit of power, smacking 18 home runs while having a .190 isolated slugging percentage. Though this came with a big 33.2% strikeout rate and walk rate of just 8.1%. Though a solid season, there were signs of regression. He had a .285 xwOBA, and .391 xSLG. Chavis only had a line drive rate of 19.5% while having a tad high 45% ground ball rate. DRC+ only had him at 86, 10% lower than his wRC+ mark.

Though since his solid rookie campaign, Chavis has yet to even come close to reaching that peak. His last 240 plate appearances have seen him put up just a .204/.242/.364 line, .259 wOBA, and 56 wRC+. He’s also put up a -1.1 fWAR during this time. The biggest issue has been his lack of walks. He’s walked only 9 times in these 240 plate appearances while going down on strike three 82 times. This year alone he has a 1/32 BB/K ratio.

Chavis doesn’t have one defined position. He was drafted as a shortstop, developed mostly as a third baseman, and has seen time at second base, first base, as well as left field. Chavis probably won’t push Rodolfo Castro off of second base, and certainly won’t push Ke’Bryan Hayes off of third base. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t have a good answer at first base until Colin Moran’s return from the injured list and could slot into left/right field once he does return.

Though his numbers since the outset of the 2020 season haven’t been pretty, he’s still only 25-years-old. The fact that the Pirates were able to get anything out of Davis is a plus. Though Chavis does give the Pirates a chance to find a diamond in the rough.

After all, many sources pinned him as a top 100 prospect just two years ago. There’s some untapped power potential within Michael Chavis. His biggest problem has been strikeouts. Though even if all he does is return to his 2019 form, the trade will end up being a good swap.