Chapman back at full strength after surgery
His recovery meant giving up his offseason routine
Following a breakout season where he finished seventh in AL MVP voting, Matt Chapman responded in the offseason by doing … well, not much of anything.
Instead, he had surgery on his thumb and shoulder
and didn’t swing a bat or field a ball all winter.
The inactivity worried Chapman, but through 36 games, the only people who remain legitimately concerned are opposing pitchers. Finally healthy, Chapman has been able to take his game to another level.
“I was nervous because I take my offseason training seriously,” Chapman said recently. “I want to feel strong, and I want to feel prepared. I didn’t pick up a bat all offseason, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”
It’s hard to argue based on the results.
With the A’s set to open a six-game homestand today against the Cincinnati Reds, Chapman ranks fourth in the AL in OPS at .981. He’s on pace for 41 homers and 113 RBIs, while he’s struck out just 19 times, a number that projects to 86 over 162 games — well short of the 146 whiffs he endured last season.
Feeling good has been somewhat weird, Chapman admitted. Dating back to his rookie year, in 2017, he’s never really been healthy in the big leagues, the result of those lingering thumb and shoulder issues.
Chapman said he contracted a staph infection shortly after he made his
MLB debut and attributed his thumb problems, in part, to that. Last year, he spent two weeks on the disabled list in June and made it through the season with a series of pain-killing injections.
On Oct. 18, 2018, Dr. Steven Shin removed the sesamoid bone from Chapman’s thumb at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe institute in Los Angeles. In December, Chapman underwent a distal clavicle resection procedure to fix his left shoulder, where he started feeling pain during an offseason workout.
“It probably ended up being good for him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He
plays the game a certain way, which is 100 percent all the time. He had a significant workload last year. Certain guys need to get ready for spring. He was a guy who we just wanted to come healthy to spring.”
Chapman has certainly done that, and his 77 total
bases led all AL hitters entering Monday’s games; only Colorado’s Nolan Arenado (81) had more.
It’s also the continuation of a strong finish to 2018 for Chapman, when he had an AL-high 42 extra-base hits in the second half and finished with a .278 average,
24 home runs and 68 RBIs.
As a result of being healthy, Chapman has been able to tap into some power that he feels like has been dormant for the past couple of years. But he’s also aware there’s more than threequarters of the season to go.
“For me, it’s just trying to pick up where I left off last season,” Chapman said. “Obviously there’s a lot of season left, a lot of work to do. I’m happy about where I’ve started. I just don’t want to get complacent.”
It’s probably too early to fret over Chapman’s defensive numbers; a year after crushing pretty much every other third baseman in defensive runs saved and UZR, Chapman ranks seventh and 10th in those categories thus far, the result of a small sample size more than anything.
The defense, Chapman knows, will always be there, which has been the case since he was a kid.
“I’ve always loved defense,” Chapman said. “When I was younger, I was always smaller. I had to be the guy who played good defense. I was scrappy because I wasn’t the best hitter. I had to play good defense and do everything the right way to play on good teams, then once I started getting bigger and stronger, I took it to the next level.”
The players Chapman loved watching included Scott Rolen, Evan Longoria and Derek Jeter, the latter because Chapman started out as a shortstop. He moved to third his junior year of college at Cal State Fullerton.
“That’s why I like shifts,” Chapman said. “I can get
my few seconds of fame at shortstop. I’m definitely a third baseman, but I like to pretend I’m a shortstop.”
Chapman doesn’t need to pretend that he’s an elite offensive player, a guy who should make an even better case for AL MVP this season.
Especially since a few of his key body parts are now 100 percent, which has been a welcome change.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself or be cocky or anything like that,” Chapman said. “I’m definitely happy about where I’m at, and I know I’m capable of continuing to play well.
“Hopefully I can keep it rolling. I know it’s impossible to stay hot all year, but I’m just trying to manage the ups and downs and stay consistent.”