Chase d’Arnaud is very comfortable in front of a camera

Chase d’Arnaud is sort of living a warrior poet’s lifestyle, if we expand the definition of warrior to include “baseball player”. The Giants’ backup utility player quickly established himself as the greatest video director in franchise history (both New York and San Francisco) with his ode to Hunter Pence —

— and has continued to demonstrate this talent throughout the season:

He was born in Southern California and went to school at Pepperdine University, so his savvy media skills should be expected. Yes, kids born in the Los Angeles are issued Avid at birth and go on auditions before they can walk.

But Chase d’Arnaud is more than just a pretty face with comedic timing and quality editing skills. He’s also a musician.

In 2016, Chase and his band [The Chase d’Arnaud Band] opened for Lady Antebellum at the Kicks 101.5 Country Fair just outside Atlanta, Ga., played a set at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tn., and headlined at legendary Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Ga.

So, he’s kind of a big deal, which is why it should come as no surprise that Alaska Airlines hired (or the Giants media relations department conscripted) him (along with Ty Blach and Ty Blach’s wife, Nikki) to do this in-flight interstitial:

It’s the second in a series of these which I assume run as part of Alaska’s in-flight entertainment. Do they have an SF Giants channel like Virgin America used to have?

But I digress. This is all about Chase d’Arnaud and his comfort in front of the camera. He exudes an easy, yet aggressive charm — you can very easily imagine him supplanting Eric Byrnes on MLB Network.

“Wow, Mr. Driveline, these Driveline Baseball stats really are something. Sure do wish we had this data when I played.”

“Oh, the data was available, it’s just that —”

“The Giants don’t believe data? Yeah, totally. Tell me more about what you do here.”

More should be written about the second act of professional athletes, because it’s never quite clear to me what’s going to happen to the lot of them. Sure, a great many of the people we see play in MLB games will be financially well-off for the rest of their lives (some more than others, of course), but how do people who commit fully 25-30 years of their life — mind you, a time span that begins before they’re teenagers — to one thing move on to something else?

Human beings need activity. There’s only so much fishin’ and huntin’ one person can do in a year or a lifetime, and it’s nice to see when a player demonstrates an almost casual relationship with this super serious professional sport. Chase d’Arnaud acts like he hasn’t got a care in the world, and that’s probably why he’s doing exactly what he wants to at this phase of his life.

Let’s come back to the other star of this infotainment: the extraordinarily shy Ty Blach.

He’s a bit more comfortable when the camera’s not pointed directly at him, which leads to a funny situation where he and d’Arnaud appear to zoom ahead and ditch Nikki Blach a couple of times. Just a couple of teammates hanging out — wait for Nikki, Ty!

The sequence ends with Chase doing a solo bit where he photo bombs someone’s selfie. This appears to be entirely improvised, and he does it with such ease and confidence that it doesn’t really matter if it was all part of a setup. He just comes off like the kind of guy who would do something mirthful like that.

So, here you go, MLB Network or regional sports net: Chase d’Arnaud would be an invaluable addition to your broadcasting team once he retires from baseball.