We’ve heard it thousands of times. A baseball season — whether we’re talking about the majors or minors — is a marathon, not a sprint. And when we look at a player’s season-long statistics, it can sometimes only tell part of the story. Based on how 2023 has started for Yankees prospect Andres Chapparo, he knows a thing or two about that.
Chapparo, who just turned 24 years old a few days ago, put together an impressive spring during Grapefruit League action with the Yankees. Across 37 at-bats, he slashed .324/.405/.730 with five home runs, two doubles, 12 RBI, and seven runs scored. This came off the heels of a 2022 campaign where he posted a .963 OPS with 19 home runs and 52 RBI in 64 games played at Double-A Somerset.
Those performances earned him a spot in Triple-A with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. However, his year got off to a horrendous start. The infielder went hitless over his first seven games. Before he finally notched that first knock, his hitless streak ran all the way up to 29 at-bats.
But if you look at his season-long offensive statistics, you’d never know he went through such a terrible slump to start the year. Chapparo has racked up 134 plate appearances in Triple-A thus far. He’s the proud owner of a .281/.351/.587 triple slash.
How the heck did he do that? Well, he’s been absolutely tearing the cover off the ball for the past month. In the right-handed hitter’s last 24 games (104 plate appearances), he’s hitting .362/.423/.755 with 16 extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple, 10 home runs), 25 RBI, and 24 runs scored. Maybe he sees that the Yankees could use a little extra offense and wants to help.
He took things to another level on Tuesday night with a five-hit game, which included a grand slam:
This kind of performance is impressive for anyone. But for a 24-year-old trying to get to the majors and getting his first taste of Triple-A action? It’s just a little more impressive than usual.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.