SF Giants get rough news on Matt Chapman before huge road trip

UPDATE: Chapman was placed on the 10-day IL with his hand injury after this article was written. At the time of its writing, the main update had been that Chapman's x-rays were negative on his hand. Unfortunately, he is going to have to miss time.

There was a scary moment for the SF Giants late in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Braves. Stud third baseman Matt Chapman injured his hand diving back to first base on a pick off, but thankfully he did not break anything.

Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reported after the game that Chapman had his right hand X-rayed and that it came back negative so nothing is broken. He said he simply got his fingers jammed diving back into the bag so one hopes it is not too serious.

SF Giants get great news on health status of Matt Chapman

This is great news because it was a scary moment to see Chapman lying down in pain on the first base bag. It was hard not to let one's mind drift to a potential broken wrist or a dislocated shoulder in a worst-case scenario. Losing a player and leader of Chapman's caliber would have been absolutely soul-crushing for a Giants team that is currently on a tear.

Chapman is slashing .243/.360/.452 with 12 home runs and 30 runs batted in on the season. He just had his most memorable moment of the season with a clutch walk-off home run against the Braves on Saturday. We know Chapman can be streaky at the plate, but right now he is swinging a hot bat and they are going to need him to continue that hot hitting on this road trip.

Tonight, the Giants begin the first of three games against the Colorado Rockies before heading to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers for the first time this season. It is of utmost importance that the Giants take care of business against a Colorado team that only has 12 wins on the year before giving it their best go against the Dodgers. The National League West is very tight, so every single game the Giants play against the Dodgers is going to matter a ton.

It will be interesting to see if manager Bob Melvin decides to rest Chapman at all in Colorado to ensure he is as fresh as possible against the Dodgers. Perhaps if that right hand needs an extra day to heal up the Giants can throw Casey Schmitt out at third base instead.

No matter what, it is great news that the worst was avoided on Chapman's injury. They are going to need their stud third baseman as healthy as possible to take on their arch rival.