Blue Jays records that could be broken in 2022

Matt Chapman

Before I get into this I would like to make one thing clear. I think that Matt Chapman is a very good hitter, but he will not be breaking any offensive records. His biggest asset is his defence, and that’s something that could break records.

Chapman is easily one of the best defenders in baseball. If you watched any games so far this season you’ll have seen it. Everything in the field just comes to him so easily. This ability sets him up perfectly to break some single-season Blue Jays records that you may not necessarily be thinking about.

Per Baseball Reference, the current single-season record for defensive WAR (dWAR) is 3.9, set by Devon White in 1992. That ranks 12th all-time in American League dWAR, but Chapman’s career-high of 3.3, set in his second straight Platinum Glove winning 2019 season, isn’t that far off. dWAR is also a bit of a finicky stat and often relies on the fielder simply preventing hits by staying close to the line, so if Chapman really pushed for it, 3.9 certainly isn’t untouchable.

Fielding runs is another defensive metric measured by Baseball Reference, and the current Jays single-season record holder is once again held by Devon White in 1992, with 32.5. Again, Chapman’s career-high isn’t too far off, posting 28 fielding runs in 2019, which would already be good enough for second in franchise history.

There are a number of other defensive metrics like defensive runs saved or outs above average that I could talk about, but at this point, it would feel redundant. The point is that Matt Chapman is elite defensively and if would expect him to have a shot at breaking most Blue Jays single-season defensive records in 2022.