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When injuries pushed the Red Socks to promote the best hopes Michael Chavis earlier this season, the time he had spent in the Majors was uncertain. Dustin Pedroia, Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez all represented veterans' options for second base – a position that Chavis was and still is learning – and the promotion of any prospect is never guaranteed.
But Chavis broke into Boston, hitting a .293 / .423 / .638 clip with six long balls in his first 71 appearances on the plate. Its radiation rate of 26.8% and 14.9% is higher than the organization would prefer, but Chavis has also done a dozen or so steps, demonstrating a certain selectivity on the plate.
Boston has already faced them in the second, third and first goals, and the team is at least tinkering with the idea of using Chavis in the outfield, as Ian Browne of MLB.com said. Chavis does not have any professional experience in any of the three field slot machines, but he does work on flying balls during the batting trials. Manager Alex Cora made it clear that Chavis was not yet working on learning the field. But, added Cora, "It will be good for him to stay there and see the flight of the balloon."
This is a notable fact for the Red Sox for a number of reasons. Keeping Chavis at the big league level would consistently keep one of their best hitters in training and could help spell regulars in several places. In addition, this would create an interesting alignment dilemma in case the Red Sox manage to get all their field options in good health. Chavis, at this point, has produced more offense than one would expect from Holt or Nunez, who would risk losing playing time against him in a scenario that does not hurt himself. We do not know yet when Holt will return to the club, but Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets Following a recent injection of shoulder pain, Holt hopes to begin a new rehabilitation mission for the minor leagues in the near future. Nunez is currently in good health but has only touched .189 / .200 / .264 through a small sample of 56 APs.
Pedroia, meanwhile, is already on a mission of rehabilitation for the minor leagues. The veteran has long been one of the cornerstones of the franchise, but he has played nine games since the first day of the 2018 opening because of his own injuries. A return to form for Pedroia would give the Sox the cliche of the "good problem to have", but for the moment, it is difficult to know what to expect from the 35-year-old.
From the point of view of the time of service, the decision to keep Chavis in the big leagues has its own ramifications. Chavis was promoted with enough time for the Sox to control him for one more season than they would have had the right to break up with the club, but he lined himself up as a gifted Super Two player. Without an early career extension, it would give Chavis a boost to his first seven-figure salary in 2022 instead of 2023, and his three subsequent arbitration salaries would be higher given his early entry into the process. .
Of course, even if Chavis stays in the big leagues for the moment, he is not immune to an option later in the season. A prolonged slump could bring him back to Pawtucket long enough to change his arbitration or even his independent agent trajectory. But it should be noted that he has already been impressed to the point of imposing a solution to the problem and to prepare the Sox to make difficult decisions with regard to playing time and possibly even places in the lineup.
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