PHOENIX — It took Matt Chapman an instant to recognize the opportunity in front of him. Then it took him just a few ticks more — 15.7 seconds in all — to sprint around the bases.
All the conditions existed Monday night to create the Giants’ first inside-the-park home run in more than seven years: the hard contact to center field that would’ve been a home run in 26 major-league parks but not at Chase Field, a hard carom away from both Arizona Diamondbacks outfielders and a third-base coach, Matt Williams, who was less risk averse than a municipal bond fund.
It also required Chapman’s unique blend of talent and temperament. He is a player whose sprint speed has always been sneaky elite, never more so than now, in the final stretch of his age-31 season. And he is a player whose motor generates the same horsepower whether he’s competing in a playoff game or for a team that is making October tee times.
Chapman’s two-run, inside-the-park home run in the third inning was a fitting highlight for an also-ran team that is finishing faster than anyone had a right to expect. Chapman also hit an RBI triple, making him the first Giant since Hall of Famer Monte Irvin in 1953 to complete both fleet feats in a major-league game. Casey Schmitt and Michael Conforto hit booming home runs and young Hayden Birdsong executed enough pitches in enough critical counts over five innings as the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 to open their final road series of the season.
Matt Chapman’s inside-the-parker was the Giants’ first since 8/19/17 Denard Span
only teams w/longer active droughts:
CHW 8/18/17 Nicky Delmonico
OAK 10/4/06 ALDS G2 Mark Kotsay https://t.co/5Xxjyv7JEF— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 24, 2024
The Giants are playing loose as well as fast. They are 6-1 on their road trip against three contending teams in Baltimore, Kansas City and Arizona. Their victory Monday night was their fourth consecutive, which matches their season high. That might be less an accomplishment to brag about than an emblem of an unsatisfactory season. But there is no replaying any of those losses or those missed opportunities. There is only controlling their energy and effort over this final stretch. And Chapman, who is bound to be sleep-deprived after welcoming his first child on Thursday, isn’t slowing down.
“He doesn’t know another way,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s just showing everybody how we expect to play down the road. That’s always what he’s meant to me, in Oakland as well. As a rookie, his entire time there, that’s just what kind of comes along with him. That’s why everybody loves watching him play. There’s one pace to him. It’s the only pace he knows. It’s all out, all the time. And in games like this, it shows up big time.”
Perhaps this helps explain why the Giants were comfortable giving Chapman a six-year, $151 million extension earlier this month: He’s magically getting faster as he gets older.
His average sprint speed as a rookie in 2017 was 28.7 feet per second which ranked in the 88th percentile. It dipped a bit in each of the next three seasons, bottoming out at 27.4 feet per second (still solidly above average) when he was coming off hip labrum surgery in the 2020 season. But he’s gotten a little faster each year since then: 28.1 in 2021, then 28.4, then 28.5, and back up to 28.7 this season — the same speed he averaged as a rookie and back in the 85th percentile.
How has this happened? Well, the simplest answer might be because his hip mobility has improved every year since his surgery. But mostly, it’s because he works at it. And he maintains it to the end of a season in which he was playing his 149th game Monday night. Perhaps the most remarkable part of Chapman’s 360-foot jaunt, complete with choppy little sprinter’s arms that might remind some Giants fans of Andres Torres, was that he didn’t collapse in an exhausted heap after he slid across the plate. He immediately got up, high-fived his teammates and jogged to the dugout like he could’ve tackled another 360-foot circuit.
“I loved seeing that,” Schmitt said. “Whatever he does, it works. He flies.”
Chapman’s three days on the paternity list created a rebirth of sorts for Schmitt, who was added to the Giants roster from Triple-A Sacramento and has made the most of a mini-opportunity. He is 6 for 14 with a home run, a clutch RBI single, two walks and three strikeouts. He worked with coaches to move up on the plate, allowing him to spoil more outside pitches and utilize his pull power on mistakes over the heart of the dish.
And Schmitt, playing second base, made a leaping snag of a line drive to strand two runners in the fifth inning and ensure that a teetering Birdsong would qualify for the victory.
Perhaps it was easy to lose track of Schmitt amid all consternation over Marco Luciano’s limited opportunities down the stretch. But Schmitt still has plenty of upside, too. He’s already a major-league-quality infielder, even if Chapman is signed through 2030 to play the position at which he was drafted in the second round out of San Diego State. And Schmitt might be an adjustment or two away from becoming a lineup asset.
“I think so,” Melvin said. “I know the bat’s going to play. Getting up on the plate is going to help him because his pull side is kind of his sweet spot. I think he’s making adjustments and doing a good job.”
Schmitt acknowledged the obvious: When he has struggled, it sometimes looks like he’ll never figure it out.
“I know there’s times it looks like I have no idea how to hit,” the 25-year-old said. “But I feel like it’s there. I just need to kind of just pull it out within and find something to stick with. Controlling the zone is a big one, and that’s something that I’m really trying to work on this year. I was able to work counts and that’s what I have to do continuously to get pitches to hit.”
Casey Schmitt throws down the hammer 🔨 pic.twitter.com/bo7Mnf7Pj8
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 24, 2024
Here’s an interesting comparison: Chapman played four minor-league seasons in the A’s system before he debuted in 2017. He logged 1,377 plate appearances in 321 games. Schmitt’s minor league workload is nearly identical: four minor league seasons, 1,358 plate appearances in 311 games. The difference is in where those games and plate appearances were allocated. Chapman debuted at rookie ball and in Low A. He played a full season in what was the High-A Cal League at the time. Then he logged 117 games at Double-A Midland. The A’s called him up after 49 games at Triple A in 2017.
Schmitt skipped rookie ball and went straight to Low-A San Jose where he played in 64 games. He started the next season at High-A Eugene and was moved up after 93 games. Then came the critical divergence in his development: He played just 29 games for Double-A Richmond. He’s spent the past two seasons toggling between Triple-A Sacramento and the big leagues.
Comparing their minor-league hitting stats, Schmitt had a better minor-league strikeout rate than Chapman and hit for a higher average. But it was sipping from a fire hose to go from High-A to Triple-A in the span of a couple weeks. He’s still getting used to seeing pitch shapes and offspeed command that weren’t commonplace in the low minors. And he lost most of his final college season to the pandemic.
So his major-league performance to date shouldn’t be a final referendum on his ceiling as a player.
“Guys are getting to the big leagues quicker,” Melvin said. “I don’t know if it helps them or hurts them. But it seems like most organizations now are trying to push their guys. In Chappy’s case, he got a workload down there and moved himself up. Once he got to the big leagues, he was ready. The hard part for Casey right now is he’s playing a different position for the most part. The position where he’s really good has kind of gone away. So it’s having to process that and say, ‘All right, I’ve got to do something a little bit different.’ So I’m proud of the way he’s playing right now.”
So much of Schmitt’s value was tied up in his defensive skills at third base. He could have been devastated when the best defensive third baseman in the major leagues signed a six-year extension with a no-trade provision that will keep him at third base for the remainder of the decade. But Schmitt’s face brightened when asked what he thought of Chapman’s contract.
“I loved it,” Schmitt said. “I mean, he deserves that. He deserves everything. He’s a leader. He goes out and plays every day and he’s awesome. Anything that he’s got for me, you know, I always pick his brain and take everything I can from him to make myself better. I really, really love being around him.”
Chapman might have the best arm of any third baseman in baseball. Schmitt’s average throw this season has been 2 mph faster.
The Giants are likely to pursue a shortstop like the Padres’ Ha-Seong Kim this winter, which would create a bottleneck at second base for their internal options like Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald, who will have to compete for playing time. Given Fitzgerald’s potential value in a multi-positional role, if Schmitt can figure out the hitting part well enough to make his bat playable, then he could be a major piece of a rebuilt roster that puts a premium on pitching and defense. And if Schmitt really figures it out at the plate, he could be quite a bit more valuable than that.
“I know when I struggle, I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself,” Schmitt said. “I’ve tried to do too much with the opportunities that I’m given. But I think I’ve done a better job handling myself this year. And I’m OK with anything I get at second, at short. I don’t care what it looks like. I just want to play and win games.”
(Photo of Casey Schmitt from Sept. 20: Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today / Imagn Images)
