SAN DIEGO — An injury that initially wasn’t supposed to force Matt Chapman to miss more than the minimum 10 days has kept the Giants third baseman sidelined for more than a month now, with no clear timeline for when he could return to the field.
Chapman provided the unfortunate update on his health Saturday from the visitors’ clubhouse at Petco Park, where he traveled with the team in hopes of being activated from the injured list.
That won’t happen this series, after all, and it’s not clear what Chapman’s outlook is after his rehab from an abdominal strain hit a bump in the road when he tried to run the bases.
“The plan was for me to try to be ready to play this weekend,” Chapman said. “Unfortunately … it’s just not in a place where I can be of help to the team. If I can’t run the bases and I can’t run, it’s gonna be hard for me to help the team.”
Chapman said he is able to swing pain-free, but running at full speed and some defensive plays are still causing him discomfort. He had been dealing with soreness in his midsection since the first month of the season but aggravated it making a barehanded play in a June 30 loss to the Diamondbacks.
Although Chapman said Saturday that “four weeks was our hope,” manager Tony Vitello initially said he expected Chapman back before the All-Star break, which would have meant an IL stint of less than two weeks. Chapman now says he could miss up to four times that amount of time.
“It can be anywhere from four to six to eight weeks,” he said. “It just depends on how it heals.”
Still, Chapman refuted the idea that he was back to “day zero” in his recovery.
“Before then, just walking and getting out of bed hurt,” Chapman said. “Now, [I’m] actually swinging and running and doing things. So, it’s still progressed.”
The Giants have fallen only two games further below .500 in Chapman’s absence, but their fate as sellers ahead of Monday’s trade deadline had already been sealed.
That doesn’t mean Chapman isn’t doing everything in his power to return as quickly as possible. Some fans have speculated that he is pushing his recovery past the trade deadline to nix a possible deal, but he has the contractual power to do that anyway with a no-trade clause.
“It doesn’t matter what our record is, we still have something to play for every day,” Chapman said. “For me, I mean, I would like to play today. But I can’t.”
It was already a longshot that Chapman would be going anywhere, but his injury as well as the torn meniscus that ended Casey Schmitt’s season puts a damper on their post-deadline infield.
The latest chapter of Schmitt’s breakout season had seen him filling in at third for Chapman, but he was also in line to take over every day at second base if and when Luis Arraez is traded.
With Arraez scratched from the lineup with cramps and Chapman still on the mend, the Giants offered a preview Saturday of what’s to come with Christian Koss at third and Osleivis Basabe at second.
Schmitt faces a recovery of six to eight weeks, putting the rest of this season just out of reach but setting him up for a healthy offseason. Chapman hadn’t spoken to him since his surgery Friday but said he believes Schmitt, who played five positions, deserves an everyday role.
“I think he’s earned himself an everyday position and spot to start every single day, wherever that may be,” Chapman said. “He hadn’t put it together for a full season and maybe really shown that he’s an everyday player. But I told him that he should be proud because he solidified himself as an everyday player and somebody this team needs and can count on.”
