Matt Chapman’s bat has become one of the Giants’ biggest swing factors.
San Francisco got 27 home runs from him in his first season with the club, then 21 more in his second. This year, that total crashed to seven. For a team that finished 26th in the majors in runs, getting that kind of pop back at third base is one of the most obvious ways to help the offense.
The numbers tell the story of a down season. Chapman hit .235/.324/.368 in 84 games and finished with a career-low .692 OPS.
He went deep about once every 50 plate appearances, which was roughly half as often as he did in 2025. He also played through an abdominal strain he suffered in April, landed on the injured list July 1, and eventually underwent season-ending core muscle surgery in August.
His 2025 line was .231/.340/.430 over 128 games. The batting average barely changed - up four points in 2026 - but the power disappeared, with his slugging percentage dropping 62 points. His strikeout rate stayed around 23% in both seasons, so the bigger issue was what happened when he actually put the ball in play.
According to Baseball Savant, Chapman’s hard-hit rate fell from 47.6% to 35.8%. His barrel rate also slid from 9.9% to 6.6%, both career lows. That meant fewer balls coming off his bat with the kind of speed and launch angle that usually turn into extra-base damage.
Chapman said the injury was affecting him at the plate. He told MLB.com in August that it made it difficult to sustain his production. By the Giants’ September injury update, he was rehabbing in Arizona, with a spring training return projected.
Even with the offensive dip, Chapman still had value on the field. MLB.com reported on his surgery while he was leading major league third basemen with 16 Defensive Runs Saved.
That glove is a big reason San Francisco will keep running him out there once he’s healthy. He’s under contract through 2030, and the Giants need him producing in the middle of the order the way he did in his first two seasons with the club.
The Giants also lost some right-handed thump when the deadline deal sent Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees. In Giants On SI’s early 2027 roster projection, left-handed hitters Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge are expected to handle most of the starts at designated hitter and first base, respectively. A productive Chapman would give San Francisco a needed right-handed bat to fit between them.
If he’s back in the lineup regularly, the first sign of a turnaround will be simple: a hard-hit rate closer to his 2025 level. If the power follows and Chapman gets back into the 20-homer range, the Giants would have a veteran bat capable of driving in runs while Eldridge pushes for an everyday role.
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