Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List

Prior to Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Rays, the Giants placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 13.  (The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser was the first to report the IL placement.)  With right-hander Ryan Walker also going on the paternity list, the Giants addressed the two open roster spots by calling up right-hander Keaton Winn from Triple-A and activating righty Landen Roupp from the 15-day IL to make the start.

Chapman is dealing with inflammation in his right hand, and has taken a cortisone shot in an effort to try and return in a minimal amount of time.  Even then, as he told Slusser and other reporters Friday that his hand likely won’t be fully healed until the offseason.  It all stems from the initial hand injury that sidelined Chapman for about four weeks in June and early July, when he suffered sprains and bone bruises on three fingers on his right hand following a painful dive back to third base.

Even after returning from that first IL stint, Chapman was still playing through discomfort, leaving him “trying to push through it, do what I can.”  Things reached a breaking point within the last few days, when Chapman’s hand became sore enough that “I really felt like I couldn’t use my hand when I was swinging, and it just didn’t feel right.”

The numbers underline Chapman’s struggles.  The third baseman hit .243/.360/.452 over his first 272 place appearances of the season, but then batted just .200/.290/.365 over the 131 PA in between his two IL placements.

Chapman’s slump has been just one factor in a team-wide offensive shortage over the last month, which has led to the Giants’ big slide down the standings.  San Francisco is 7-21 over its last 28 games, which includes an ongoing six-game losing streak and a hard-to-believe stretch of 14 losses in the Giants’ last 15 home games.  Even if Chapman does return in a minimal amount of time and is able to regain his form at the plate, it may already be too late for the Giants to make a late push at a wild card slot.

Casey Schmitt is the likeliest fill-in for Chapman at third base, though Schmitt had to leave Friday’s game after being hit by a pitch.  In the postgame media session, Giants manager Bob Melvin told Slusser and company that x-rays were negative, though Schmitt may need to miss a few games to let his right forearm contusion heal up.  This could put Christian Koss in line for some third base playing time.