The Giants announced today that they’ve placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list with a sprained right hand. Infielder Christian Koss was recalled to the club’s roster to replace Chapman. The infielder spoke at length Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and Maria Guardado of MLB.com about his injury, noting that he’s certain to miss more than the minimum ten days after injuring his hand while diving towards third base in the eighth inning of the club’s game on Sunday.
Chapman indicated that he’s suffering from sprains in three of the fingers on his right hand, and each of those three fingers also has a bone bruise. The third baseman’s exact timeline for return is not yet clear, but he said he hopes to be back in action before the end of the first half. That suggests he hopes to return at some point before the All-Star break begins on July 14, although Slusser adds that Chapman is set to meet with hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles on Friday and that the team will know more about his exact timeline for return after that meeting.
Even a few weeks without Chapman would be a frustrating bump in the road for a Giants team that has managed to outperform expectations in a big way this year, as they currently sit just 1.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and firmly entrenched in the Wild Card mix. Chapman’s been a major part of that success so far, as he’s slashed an excellent .243/.360/.452 with a wRC+ of 134 while playing his typical excellent defense at the hot corner. That package has been enough to generate 2.5 fWAR in just 65 games, a figure that just nine players in the NL have managed to top so far this season. On top of his excellent season-long production, the veteran was also in the midst of a particularly hot stretch as he had been hitting .322/.429/.610 with a wRC+ of 194 over his past 17 games.
Replacing Chapman on the roster is Koss, who made his big league debut for San Francisco earlier this year. He hasn’t hit much in the majors yet, with a career slash line of just .219/.275/.266 (57 wRC+) across 29 games. Koss is an impressive and versatile defender, however, and he’ll likely slide into the utility role Casey Schmitt was previously getting used in while Schmitt takes over for Chapman at the hot corner. The 26-year-old seemed to enjoy something of a breakout last year when he posted a 109 wRC+ in 40 games, but this year he’s hit just .180/.281/.240 across 20 games despite fairly strong peripheral numbers. Perhaps sliding into an everyday role while Chapman is out of commission will give Schmitt the opportunities he needs to play closer to his peripheral numbers, which suggest he can be an average-to-above average hitter in the majors if he can turn that underlying performance into on-field production.
That Willy Adames contract is already looking like a major bust. The Giants are really going to need him to get going, especially with Chapman set to miss some time now.
Rookie mistake to call any contract a bust 56 games into the first season.
Especially on the night he goes yard to dead center.
he’s already hit one bomb tonight…
“That Wily Adames contract”…I’m not sure I’d ever sign a SS with a slower sprint speed than Jake Burger. I believe that Adames is literally the slowest starting infielder in MLB.
Your belief is wrong, but you are right about not signing a SS. You never will.
“Your belief is wrong”..There’s mathematical statcast proof that Adames is slower than Jake Burger. And I dont think you’ll be signing a shortstop either at Jack-in-the box, right?
Ok. He isn’t fast. Is it that big a deal ? He isn’t going steal too many bases ?
Jake Burger isn’t the slowest infielder either. Jack in the box does have the worst burgers though.
I don’t get it. Wouldn’t shortstop be about reaction time and acceleration ? It’s not like they are winding up.
Maybe chasing a pop fly ?
Ha ha. lol at Willy powering home for the go ahead run.
The Giants are going to be the death of me.
Ya but he was sooooo slow.
NOT
There’s no correlation of fast sprint speed to good defensive abilities. Andrelton Simmons was slower on the basepaths than Adames is now. Lindor is also middle of the pack at sprint speed.
mlb fan, Statcast has Adames in the 61st percentile for sprint speed. Burger is in in the 74th percentile. Clearly, Burger is faster, but I question the objectivity of this comparison. It looks like a comparison to support an agenda. For example, Corey Seager is in the 1st percentile for sprint speed. I guess you must think Seager sucks as well, huh?
mlb fan, So, not only would you not have signed Seager, you wouldn’t have signed Francisco Lindor (49th percentile), or Mookie Betts (34th percentile), with Seager, all slower than Burger, and Adames.
If you think Betts is slower than Adames/Burger I want what you’re smoking. Seegar has a decent argument for best hitter in MLB the last five years and you’re comparing him to Adames who only hits in uber small parks?
So it’s about hitting now ? You’re changing the goalposts. Poor form.
What a clown response, man. You were wrong about your assumptions. It happens to me too. No big deal.
I thought the contract was a massive overpay from the moment it was signed. I just don’t think he is that great of an overall player. His defense slipped last season in Milwaukee, and has continued to be mediocre this year. And his bat has always been a bit inconsistent. I’m not saying he’s as bad as his stats so far this year or that he’s just flat out awful, but I stand by calling the contract a huge overpay.
I thought
I just don’t think
I’m not saying
I stand by
mlb fan, See for yourself.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/mookie-betts-…
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/willy-adames-…
If you want to make a cogent argument for your belief show some facts to back it up. Your perception of who is slower is useless, and will not convince anyone.
Do you have anything to add besides mocking me like a child? Pretty terrible counter argument.
This entire thread is some sort of bizarre gaslighting scenario. Both Willy Adames and Jake Burger have significantly above average speed. By any measure they’re both fast runners.
Giants comments sections almost always seem to be one big gaslighting session. It’s weird how the team’s articles attracts the proverbial doomers (most of whom aren’t even Giants fans) to fight it out and gaslight actual Giants fans.
The average sprint speed (ft/sec) in MLB is 27. Adames is 27.7, so slightly above average. Jake Burger is 28.2. Burger is quick for a heavier set guy.
You talk about knowing statcast but you actually don’t use the tool to see that you’re wrong.
Adames isn’t even the slowest SS (Corey Seager is by far at 24.2). Adames is towards the bottom of the SS in speeds but he has a quicker velocity this season than Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Bo Bichette, and JP Crawford among several others.
This is Schmitt’s best chance to show he belongs. I haven’t been much of a fan, but would love to be proved wrong. Fans often say guys need regular playing time, and Schmitt should be getting that now. I hope he makes the most of it.
Chapman is out at least a month, that’s plenty of plate appearances to make an impression.
This is it for Casey. Great glove but he just doesn’t look like a ML hitter. I hold out hope, but this IS his shot.
Good call on his shot !
No good at all. Sounds ominous. But I suppose they were due.
Someone needs to get going.
Big time bummer. Schmitt and Koss are pretty much guaranteed outs.
Schmitt is just one of the latest players who came onto the scene and had decent success in his first full year, the league adjusted to him, and now it’s his turn to make the necessary adjustments. He has a month to prove it.
But Schmitt is typical for many promising prospects. I’m not writing him off yet, but if he doesn’t adjust, and become at least a league average player, he’ll be just one of the majority of promising prospects that don’t develop.
I remember years ago, talk of a trade between the Giants and Brewers. I forget who the Giants’ player was, but the Brewer was Keston Hiura. Brewer fans were outraged. The sense was that he was a can’t miss. Now, at age 28, he’s struggling with his 3rd team, the Rockies, and might not have a career much longer.
It seems Nick considers Chapman to be “excellent.”
I hope Chapman will be fine and be back to normal soon. He’s a big part of the Giants’ offense.