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Giants Have Received Much-Needed Spark From Matt Chapman's Return to Lineup

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The San Francisco Giants were one of the most pleasant surprises earlier in the season, jumping out to a great start and challenging the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West.

Unfortunately, that level of production proved to not be sustainable. After going 3-1 in March and 16-11 in April, the team’s performance has slowly dipped. There hasn’t been another winning month since, which is why the Giants are in the position they currently are with a 65-68 record.

Currently 11.5 games behind the Dodgers for first place in the NL West, San Francisco is also seven games out of the wild card race behind the New York Mets. The Cincinnati Reds are between them, 2.5 games ahead of the Giants. Making a postseason push will be difficult, but don’t expect this group to lay down and just play out the string.

This is a confident group that manager Bob Melvin is working with. Things haven’t gone according to plan since acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, but this is a talented team. And recently, glimpses of their dominance have been shown since third baseman Matt Chapman returned to the lineup.

The team’s production started to slip when he was hurt the first time, suffering an injury to his hand. When he returned, he knew he wasn’t at 100 percent but wanted to do what he could to help the team. Eventually, his production was hurting more than helping, and returned to the injured list while undergoing some testing.

Matt Chapman Return Rejuvenating Giants

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The rest seems to have done wonders for Chapman, who has returned to the lineup with a bang. His teammates are following suit, with the Giants going 4-0 against the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs in his first four games back. Those are two playoff teams San Francisco has hammered, providing the team plenty of confidence heading down the stretch run of the season.

Chapman is right in the middle of it. He went 0-for-3 in his return but still made an impact, drawing two walks and stealing a base. In the three subsequent contests, he has rediscovered his power stroke.

He has gone 5-for-11 with two home runs, one double and four RBI, adding one more walk and stolen base for good measure. One of those long balls achieved an impressive milestone in his career. Against left-handed reliever Jordan Wicks, Chapman hit his 200th career homer, giving the team an 11-3 lead.

Career home run No. 200 for Matt Chapman pic.twitter.com/thW7q6uiVX
— MLB (@MLB) August 28, 2025

His impact at the plate is being fed off of by his teammates. The Giants have scored at least four runs in all four games, including a 12-run explosion against the Cubs on Aug. 27. His return has coincided with Devers beginning to heat up again.

Add in shortstop Willy Adames looking more like his normal self recently and Heliot Ramos continuing to produce at an impressive clip, and you can see the makings of a future playoff contender. It may not happen this year, but San Francisco could build some positive momentum heading into the offseason with a strong finish the last month of the campaign.