May 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (26) runs the bases on his solo home run against the Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Has Veteran San Francisco Giants Slugger Finally Turned a Corner?

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Jacob Moss | Last updated May 23, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The San Francisco Giants have cooled off a bit over the past several weeks following their scorching hot start to the season. The team jumped out to an NL West-leading 12-4 record over the first month of the season, but they have gone 17-17.

A mixture of bad injury luck and lack of production at the plate has caused this slowdown, with the offense, in particular, hitting a bit of a slow patch as of late. One player who has begun to reverse his fortunes at the plate after a slow start, though, is veteran third-baseman Matt Chapman.

Coming off a stellar first year in the bay, the now 32-year-old was expected to play a key role on both offense and defense for the Giants. While he never skipped a beat at the hot corner, the bat was a different story, as the former AL All-Star struggled to find consistency at the plate.

All of that has changed over the last week however, as Chapman has begun to hit his stride with the bat in his hands. Per StatMuse, Chapman is slashing .565/.655/1.174 over his past seven games with three homers, and eight RBIs.

Matt Chapman in the last week:

.565/.655/1.174
3 HR
8 RBI
11 R
13 H

Giants are 6-1 in that span. pic.twitter.com/6NntgiFUw2
— StatMuse Baseball (@statmusemlb) May 23, 2024

This offensive explosion has boosted Chapman's season lineup to .217/.338/.411 with nine long balls and 25 RBIs. His recent success at the plate has also translated to the Giants' going 6-1 over their last seven matchups.

Combined with similar production from fellow slugger Heliot Ramos over that span, San Francisco has been able to maneuver around recent injury concerns in the pitching staff and a rough patch from the rest of the lineup.

The team will rely on both to continue their recent success at the plate, as the NL West has become an absolute bloodbath. Even after their dominant showing last week, the Giants are still two games back of the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

They also have two other teams hot on their heels in the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, so every potential win or loss means that much more as summer begins to heat up.

It will be interesting to see if Chapman can maintain his recent production at the plate and if it will be enough to keep San Francisco in the chase out west while the rest of the roster comes around.

This article first appeared on San Francisco Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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