SF Giants are learning the Evan Longoria lesson all over again with Matt Chapman

2026 has been a rough year for the SF Giants as a whole, but it’s been really tough for third baseman Matt Chapman. He struggled when he was on the field and was playing hurt which eventually led to him having to be shut down for the rest of the year after undergoing core surgery.

Chapman is now 33 years old and is still owed $25 million per year the next four seasons. A declining third baseman who is past his prime and is more injury-prone now that he’s in his thirties? Hmm, that seems a little familiar doesn’t it?

One might think Chapman’s current state is not too dissimilar from Evan Longoria when he was with the Giants. San Francisco traded for Longoria after the horrendous 2017 season and up to that point in his career with the Tampa Bay Rays he had been a very solid player who was pretty much always on the field and productive.

From 2018 to 2022 with the Giants, Longoria hit a collective .250/.312/.438 with 70 home runs and 239 runs batted in. He never played in more than 129 games during that span as injuries predictably caught up with him as he aged.

Matt Chapman's decline with Giants could mirror Evan Longoria's

It really wouldn’t shock anyone if Chapman had a similar decline to Longoria. In 2024, Chapman hit .247/.328/.463 with 27 homers and 78 runs batted in while playing in 154 games. That was during his age 31 season which is the same age Longoria was when he played in 156 games and hit .261/.313/.424 with 20 homers and 86 driven in, his final with the Rays before being traded to San Francisco.

That 2024 campaign from Chapman is what earned him that six-year, $151 million extension from the Giants but since then he has hit a collective .233/.334/.405 with 28 homers and 103 driven in. He played in 128 games last year and just 84 this year due to injury.

Chapman at least still provides value defensively, but the Giants are going to have to do a better job keeping him healthy going forward. The same applies to shortstop Willy Adames too. Those guys are being paid so much that the Giants cannot afford to have them out there playing hurt the way they did this year. There’s a reason they both underperformed and are now done for the season.

There’s no shame in a 10-day IL stint if it means an ailment goes away that would end up lasting the rest of the season if you try to play through it. While it’s admirable that Chapman has tried to play through his injuries, he’s going to be more effective if he’s healthy so that could mean more days off going forward. The Giants have another pretty good third baseman in Casey Schmitt so it’s not a bad idea to let him play third every now and then to give Chapman a breather.

Father Time has a way of catching up to everyone though so maybe it’s just inevitable that Chapman will have a Longoria-like decline. If he does, that would really make that big contract they gave him look like a waste but maybe if he can come back healthy and the Giants manage him better then he can bounce back and be closer to his 2024 self. 

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