Matt Chapman lands on IL with abdominal strain

Giants’ manager Tony Vitello told reporters on Friday that Chapman won’t be ready to return at any point during the team’s current road trip, but could be ready at the start of their next homestand which begins on July 24. Casey Schmitt will continue to man the hot corner in Chapman’s absence.

Chapman has been able to tolerate the strain, but he aggravated the injury in the sixth inning against the D-backs and was forced to depart. If he needs to go on the IL, the Giants will likely stick Casey Schmitt at third base and give more outfield time to Victor Bericoto and Drew Gilbert.

San Francisco was down five runs at the time, but Chapman seemed to suffer a right leg injury while making a play at third base to end the sixth inning. He stayed in momentarily to bat in the ensuing frame before leaving the contest. Luis Arraez was forced to move over to the hot corner with outfielder Jonah Cox entering the game at second base since the Giants were playing without any backup infielders with Willy Adames (back) hurt. Not great.

Olney adds that Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray are also obvious trade candidates. All indications are that Logan Webb is one of the few untouchables for San Francisco as they pivot towards more of a long-term build. The Giants sit at 29–43, nine games out of a playoff spot. Nothing appears imminent, but barring a dramatic turnaround, San Francisco is shaping up to be a seller ahead of the trade deadline in early August.

The line drive homer would have gone out of only three ballparks, but it was a 106.8-mph bullet. Chapman now has seven homers, six of which have come since the beginning of July. He was leading off today against a left-handed opener, which was an oddity. He’s been batting seventh against righties, but he’ll probably return to the middle of the order as soon as Tuesday.

Chapman has been showing signs of breaking out of his season-long slump with five multi-hit performances in his past seven games. He’s been striking out less than ever, but his quality of contact has suffered with a career-worst barrel rate. His track record suggests a hot stretch is coming, and this might be it.

Chapman also drew a walk before knocking in pinch-runner Jonah Cox for the decisive run tonight. Chapman is 7-for-12 with 12 RBI over the last four games as he looks to move back up the Giants lineup after being dropped to seventh in recent days. He’s second on the Giants with his 33 RBI overall.

Chapman started with a grand slam off Edward Cabrera in the fourth inning, knocking a hanging curve just barely into the left-center nets at Wrigley for a 382-foot blast. He added a three-run shot off Ethan Roberts in the sixth, denting a sign in left field to keep it from heading out on to Waveland at 432 feet. His other RBI came on a sacrifice fly. This is an MLB-best RBI total for this season so far, topping Luke Raley’s seven against the White Sox on May 8. Chapman is starting to heat up (obviously), with a .309/.381/.564 line and three homers over his last 15 games. He’s still trying to recover from a frigid late April-early May stretch where he went hitless for seven games, but his .241 season average is now in line with what we’d generally expect from him going forward.

Chapman has been the team’s least productive qualified hitter, so it’s encouraging to see him contributing in the box score. He hasn’t homered since March 31, though, which was his only one of the season. Chapman’s plate discipline metrics look normal, but his batted-ball quality has collapsed in 2026. His track record warrants patience outside of shallower formats.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today had reported earlier in the week that the Giants would love to trade away some of their biggest contracts, including Devers, Chapman, Adames, and Jung Hoo Lee. Murray’s report seems to counter that and suggests that the Giants, who are just six games out of a playoff spot, believe there is “plenty of time between now and the deadline for them to climb out of this hole.” If the Giants are not able to do that, perhaps “further subtractions” would be on the table, but that doesn’t appear to be the case right now.