Report: A's to promote Chapman on Thursday

Matt Chapman's next home run could come in the Major Leagues.
The A's No. 4 prospect will be promoted from Triple-A Nashville on Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting. The 24-year-old third baseman is hitting .259 with a .350 on-base percentage and a .592 slugging percentage that ranks fifth in the Pacific Coast League. He's also tied for third with 16 homers.

A 2014 first-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton, Chapman homered five times in 50 games with Class A Beloit in his debut season before blasting 23 long balls in 80 games for Class A Advanced Stockton in 2015, despite missing significant time with a wrist injury.
Chapman also missed two weeks in early April with another wrist injury and was slow to get back on track upon his return, hitting .194/.277/.444 through May 14. In the 28 games since, he batted .304 with 11 homers and 19 RBIs while walking 17 times and slugging .696.
The 6-foot, 210-pound third baseman finished third in the Minor Leagues with 36 homers last season between Double-A Midland and Nashville, trailing only Phillies prospects Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins, who finished with 40 and 38, respectively. He was on pace to top that number before this promotion, despite striking out a career-high 31 percent of the time -- he came in at just over 29 percent in 2016 after fanning 22.4 percent of the time in 2015.
While Chapman's plus power is impressive, scouts rave about his defense at the hot corner, and he has a 75-grade throwing arm with a plus-plus glove. His plus range and smooth hands make him a potential Gold Glover at the position and a necessary improvement for the A's, who rank last in the Majors with 62 errors and a .974 fielding percentage.