There seems to be some tension in the Giants infield.
In Wednesday’s 7-1 road loss to the Padres, San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman fielded a slow grounder off the bat of Xander Bogaerts.
Chapman collected and fired on the run to first baseman Casey Schmitt, but the ball ticked off Schmitt’s glove and rolled to the wall on what would be ruled a throwing error by Chapman.
The play came with runners on first and third and two outs, so it led to a run that could’ve been prevented with a clean throw and catch.
Instead, Gavin Sheets scampered home to make it 2-0 Padres in the fifth.
During a mound visit a few minutes later, Chapman had some harsh words for Schmitt.
“Hey, catch the f—cking ball,” Chapman said twice.
After the game, Chapman and Schmitt both said they’d made up. Chapman said it was just a “heat of the moment” incident.” Schmitt added that he stretched too early on the play.
“I’ve already talked to Casey. It’s all good,” Chapman said. “I figured that people would try to make that a big deal, but it’s baseball. Stuff happens. We all learn from it. We’ll move on.”
“I’m not mad about it or anything. It’s baseball,” Schmitt added. “Those are things I should have done and didn’t. At the end of the day, we wake up tomorrow, we play another game and we get back at it. We’re trying to win games. That’s the bottom line. Sometimes things happen. I just messed up.”
No other runs scored in the inning despite the blunder, but the Giants were still beaten 7-1 by San Diego.
Giants starter Adrian Houser gave up just one run over 5 ⅓ innings, but Jose Butto allowed four runs in the bottom of the eighth to stretch the Padres’ lead to six.
The Giants had just four hits in the affair to the Padres’ 10 and struck out 14 times.
Chapman, known for his stellar defense at the hot corner, is in the second year of a six-year, $151 million extension he signed in September 2024.
Last year, he appeared in 128 games and slashed .231/.340/.430 with a .770 OPS, a letdown after the massive deal. He also hit 21 homers and had 61 RBIs.
He spent the first five years of his career in Oakland and the next two in Toronto before moving to the Giants on a three-year contract in 2024 that would ultimately be extended.
Chapman won four Gold Gloves across his first eight seasons, a reason why Wednesday’s mishap was uncharacteristic.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Schmitt isn’t playing his natural position. Before this season, he’d only played a total of 18 games at first base at the MLB level, playing every other infield position instead.
San Francisco is now 2-4 through the first six games of the season after being swept by the Yankees in its opening series and winning two of three against the Padres.
The Giants are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They’ve finished within the 79-81 win range in the last four campaigns, a consistently mediocre squad.
