Key SF Giants free agent acquisition finally starting to live up to contract

After a slow start to the season, one of the key offseason acquisitions for the SF Giants, third baseman Matt Chapman, is finally starting to heat up. They need him to keep this up so he can live up to his contract.

Key SF Giants free agent acquisition finally starting to live up to contract

Just a few weeks ago, Chapman was ice cold and it was fair to wonder whether he would be worth the 3-year, $54 million contract he signed in the offseason. On May 7th he was slashing .209/.257/.345 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI.

Now, on May 23rd, he is slashing .245/.311/.426 with 7 home runs and 24 RBI. As Alex Pavlovic noted on X, Chapman has raised his OPS by 131 points in the last week alone. That is a great sign for the Giants as they will need Chapman to stay hot if they want to have a winning season.

It is well known that Chapman is never going to be a guy that hits for a high batting average. That has never been his strength as there is too much swing and miss in his game.

However, in his career he has hit for power which is what the Giants were counting on when they signed him. He hit 27 home runs in back to back seasons in 2021 and 2022 which is the version of Chapman that the Giants need.

If he can hit for a batting average of around .250 and finish the season with 20 homers or more and somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 RBI, that will have been well worth the Giants' investment in him even if he does decide to opt out of his contract after the season.

Just as it was probably premature to overreact to his slow start, we should not overreact to his hot streak and think he is now going to win a Silver Slugger. He is hitting better now which is a great sign and he is still having a positive impact with his glove as evidenced by the incredible play he made to end Wednesday's game.

If he can continue to hit at this clip and keeps on making web gems, then the Giants should be in a very good spot.