OAKLAND — Quick: name the best third baseman in baseball. For four years that quick answer would be Nolan Arenado of Colorado. That no longer is the default choice, not with one of the deepest classes of third basemen the game has seen in the expansion era, including Matt Chapman of Oakland.
Two years ago, when he first arrived in the major leagues with an Athletics team that went 75-87, Chapman made an admission to his manager, Bob Melvin.
“This is hard for me,” Chapman said.
He wasn’t talking about the skill level required to play Major League Baseball.