The Athletics announced today that third baseman Matt Chapman has undergone surgery on his left thumb. Specifically, he underwent an ulnar sided sesamoid bone excision on the troublesome digit.
While it’s never good to hear of the need for surgical intervention, it seems there’s good cause for optimism in this case. The announcement indicates that physician Dr. Steven Shin “was pleased with the outcome of the surgery and anticipates Matt to make a full recovery prior to the start of spring training.”
If that prognosis holds up, this could be a generally positive development for Chapman’s outlook. After all, he missed time and ultimately required a cortisone shot to treat the thumb during the 2018 season. Upon his return, Chapman’s offensive productivity shot up. Resolving the problems for good would obviously be quite a relief for player and team.
Chapman ended up turning in an outstanding all-around 2018 campaign, making core contributions to an A’s club that stunningly streaked to 97 wins. If he can maintain anything approaching that output moving forward, he’ll be a foundational piece for the organization for years to come.
Watching him play at the end of the year you knew he was injured. He started throwing away balls for errors. Good to see him get it fix now. He is one of those players that will play through all injuries and never complain about it.
I never agree with playing through injuries from a players perspective, but let’s be real Chapman at 75% still beats most MLB 3B talent !
But the injury was to his non throwing hand
You need your other thumb to close the glove, and that can affect how the ball goes into your hand – please understand that if one slight change to a normal routine gets changed, anything associated with it can get thrown off.
Pssh, that’s a hell of an excuse.
That’s how I am when there is a line to get my coffee in the morning. One slight change puts me in the danger zone.
Correction to last sentence:
” If he can maintain anything approaching that output moving forward, he’ll be a foundational piece for the organization *to trade before his arbitration years”
An ops of .864, and yet he’s a 8.2 WAR player. Man that defense speaks for itself…
That’s a pretty good OPS, but definitely wouldn’t lead to an 8.2 WAR on its own. The guy is a defensive wizard.
I’m really liking the phrase “troublesome digit”
Instant classic…
Like Trump’s thumbs?