Matt Chapman's Dog Takes Center Stage at SF Giants' Pregame Warmups

Before the San Francisco Giants' game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, an unexpected visitor took the field during warmups.

Giants third baseman Matt Chapman brought his dog, Harley, to Oracle Park for the afternoon. Chapman even played a little fetch with the golden retriever puppy, who ran around with a baseball in his mouth during San Francisco's infield work.

NBC Sports Bay Area captured footage of the intrusion, which ended in Chapman carrying Harley away from his teammates and sending him after another ball down the third base line.

Matt Chapman’s dog Harley interrupted the Phillies’ infield work pic.twitter.com/9avLHiWSph

This isn't the first time Harley has visited Oracle Park this season, as he made his debut at the stadium back in April. Based on how old Harley looks, Chapman and his wife, Taylor, likely adopted him at some point in the last year.

The Giants signed Chapman to a three-year, $54 million contract in March.

Chapman, 31, made his MLB debut with the Oakland Athletics back in 2017. In 2018 and 2019, he finished seventh and sixth in AL MVP voting.

The A's eventually traded the All-Star to the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of the 2022 campaign. Chapman spent two years north of the border before returning to the Bay Area.

Through 55 games this season, Chapman is batting .241 with eight home runs, 27 RBI, five stolen bases, a .729 OPS and a 2.7 WAR. The four-time Gold Glove winner leads the NL with a 1.0 defensive WAR and eight defensive runs saved at third base.

Chapman and the Giants started their series finale against the Phillies at 3:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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