The San Francisco Giants made a couple of splash signings this offseason that haven't lived up to their potential.
Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter urges fans to not freak out about at least one of those players, calling for patience in regards to Matt Chapman's 2024 slump.
There are two things that stand out about the difference in Chapman's game between the last couple of years and this season.
The most obvious is that he is walking way less. In 2023, the California native had a BB% of 10.7% with a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 0.38. So far this year, those numbers are 5.7% and 0.22. That is a big chunk of his at-bats that are now turning out to be negatives.
The 31-year-old has also gotten pretty unlucky at the plate. His xBA is at .245 while is actual BA is .221. He's still hitting balls about as hard as he usually does, but isn't barrelling it up nearly as much. He had a Barrel% up at 17.1% a year ago and that is now sitting down at 9.5%, which would be the lowest mark of his career.
To make matters worse, Baseball Savant also has his fielding value at the lowest it has ever been as well.
The good news is that what has gone wrong at the plate is something that he can snap out of. He's been in the league for a long time and likely hasn't just completely lost his ability to hit a ball over night.
The bad news is that a panic might not be an option as they continue to slide further under .500 and out of playoff contention.
If this season doesn't work out for Chapman, he can and likely will leave in free agency thanks to a player option in his contract after this season.
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