Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, is a stat that has been used for several years now to measure and compare different players, seeing how they perform relative to a “replacement-level” player.
FanGraphs defines replacement-level player as “the level of production you could get from a player that would cost you nothing but the league minimum salary to acquire. Minor league free agents, quad-A players, you get the idea.”
Basically, the higher WAR a player has, the more he has contributed and the better he has been.
We have played roughly three weeks of baseball, enough time to start checking the WAR leaderboard in MLB.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays‘ Matt Chapman leads the league in WAR, at least per FanGraphs’ version of the stat.
Your @MLB leader in Wins Above Replacement: Matt Chapman ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/lJkdQ5oF7g
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 19, 2023
Chapman is one of the best defenders in baseball, not just at third base, but overall.
He is a magician with the glove, capable of making plays that no other defender of the hot corner can.
On top of that, he has a cannon of an arm.
He has always had power, but offensive consistency was not always there when it comes to batting average and on-base percentage.
This season, however, everything is coming together for the Blue Jays star.
As of Wednesday, he is hitting a cool .415/.472/.785 with five home runs, 13 runs scored, and 17 RBI.
Holding a batting average of .400+ over three weeks of play is not easy to do, especially for everyday players like Chapman.
Here we are, and his underlying stats suggest that his offensive output could yield a career campaign for him.
He has been, by WAR, the best player in baseball.
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