Matt Chapman didn’t wow anyone offensively in 2020. He hit .232 with 33 hits, nine doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 25 RBI, he walked only eight times and struck out 54 times in 142 at-bats. His OBP was only .276.
His season ended early due to a hip injury which required surgery to Chapman’s right labrum and femur. The rehabilitation process started 24 hours after the procedure. Yet the question remains did the Oakland Athletics rush him back for the 2021 season?
Outside of Chapman the A’s don’t have much depth at third base. Currently there only in-house options are Chad Pinder and Vimael Machin. So it makes sense the need to get him back in the lineup as quickly as possible.
Was it the right move? Absolutely not. That got seen in Spring Training when he struggled to hit. The only positive for him was that he did walk a lot. Still it seems the better option to start the season was to put him on the injured list and re-sign Jake Lamb to start the season.
Since that didn’t happen Chapman has struggled to find his swing. He has struggled catching up to fastballs as well. Prior to last night’s game he was in a 3-for-41 slump with only two runs batted in and 16 strikeouts. In his last at-bat though he hit the ball hard yet unfortunately it was right at the second basemen which ended up being a double play.
He did pick up two hits in three at-bats on Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners and drove in a run. Overall for the season Chapman is hitting .205 with 39 hits, six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 21 RBI, has walked 32 times while striking out 74 times. His OBP is .316.
Hopefully for Oakland and their offense those two hits help Chapman get out of his slump. At the moment though there’s no question he got brought back too soon. Add that to the most recent news about the food situation of their minor league teams and it’s an even worse look for the franchise.
Matt Chapman tagged a fastball but lined into a double play. It left his bat at 109.1 mph.
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) June 2, 2021
Matt Chapman has three strikeouts tonight. Make that six straight strikeouts. Brutal.
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) June 2, 2021
Some insight into Matt Chapman’s season from a person who knows him best ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/W5Gb4I1z0i
— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) May 30, 2021