Chapman `Devastated' at Having his Season End; Athletics Feel the Sting

The Oakland Athletics have lost Platinum Glove-winning third baseman Matt Chapman to season-ending right hip surgery. While Vimael Machin and Chad Pinder will take over at third for the most part, the A's will have to replace one of their team leaders, and that's no easy task.

When the reality struck Saturday that his season was over, A’s third baseman Matt Chapman couldn’t hide his feelings from his manager, Bob Melvin, when the two talked.

“He’s devastated that he can’t play and finish off this year,” Melvin said in a video conference call before Saturday’s doubleheader in Arlington, Texas.

The club learned Saturday that Chapman would have right hip surgery Monday in Vail, Colo., to where he’d traveled to get a second opinion on his ailing right hip from Dr. Marc Phillipon. The news was bad, if not worst-case, at least as the 2020 season is concerned.

Just like that, the A’s were without the two-time winner of the Platinum Glove for defensive excellence and a middle-of the-lineup presence who hit 36 homers last year.

“He’s disappointed that he has to have the surgery,” Melvin said. “We all want him to get healthy, and a lot of it comes down to whether or not you can play through something like that, which is tough. But we also want him 100 percent healthy for next year. So that’s what it came down to.”

The injury, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, was a torn hip labrum. The recovery time can stretch out several months, including a week or two at the start on crutches, but Chapman should be ready to go when spring training rolls around again, or shortly thereafter.

For the moment, the A’s will go with a platoon at third base with lefty Vimael Machin and right-hander Chad Pinder doing most of the work. Melvin has also used Tommy La Stella at third base upon occasion, moving him over from second base when he wanted to get another left-hander, Tony Kemp, in the lineup.

They can fill in. Replacing Chapman, a proven All-Star, is something else again.

“It's hard; it’s hard on him,” Melvin said. “It's hard on us. You first think of the individual. And he wants to be here; he wants to be playing. He’s one of those guys who plays about as hard as anybody in the game

“We’re hoping the surgery goes well and hoping he gets healthy as soon as possible. We’re all smarting a little bit right now, and we want to kind of carry the torch for him and keep winning and keep doing good things.”

Oakland came into the weekend with a seven-game lead over second-place Houston in the American League West with 17 games left in the truncated 60-game season. At 28-15, the A’s have the second-best win total and the best winning percentage, .651, in the AL.

How will the A’s respond collectively without one of their team leaders on the field daily?

“We've always been able to respond and injuries are just part of the game,” Melvin said. “Certainly, some guys are more important to the team than others. This one stings some, but we all have to rally around it and play with the spirit. You just have to get through it.”

The A’s and Chapman both had been hoping that his injury, which cropped up while he was making a spinning throw on Sunday against the Astros, would be back soon, so much so that the club hadn’t put him on the injured list with the wish he’d be back before the 10-day minimum would be met.

He was placed on the injured list Saturday with outfielder Seth Brown being recalled from the team’s alternate site in San Jose. At the same time, Game 1 starting pitcher Daulton Jefferies was added to the roster for the 29 man for the doubleheader.

Before leaving for Colorado, Chapman spent games will be sitting in the stands, something he finds odd and almost unnerving.

“I think I don't really know what to do with myself,” he said in a video conference call. “I was sitting out in the stands and it feels weird. But I used to be a little worse when I'd missed the game. The last thing I want to do is be a distraction. So, I'm watching guys take their at-bats and watching Chad (Pinder) play third base.

“For the most part I'm not trying to distract those guys and I don't want to like bother anybody. It’s hard to sit still in one spot, so I’ve definitely been bouncing around in the stands, the dugout or in the (batting) cage watching guys, but just trying to do my part even if I can't play.”

Even before the throw that ultimately ended his season, there were signs that Chapman was hurting. He struck out 10 times in 11 at-bats when the season resumed after the A’s had a five-day break after a positive COVID-19 test on the part of pitcher Daniel Mengden. Over a longer stretch, Chapman was averaging .120 in an eight-game stretch following a 16-game stretch in which he had averaged .303 and had seven homers and 18 RBI.

“I'd be lying to you to tell you if I said I feel great every single day that I go out there,” Chapman said. “But for the most part, you feel good enough to give whatever you can that day. But it's something that kind of been, you know, bugging me this this whole season, just kind of like, didn't feel like I had my legs under me.”

Chapman is in his third full season with the A’s, having come up midway through the 2017 season. In that time, he's led the Major Leagues in defensive runs saved - all positions - and he’s become one of the clubhouse leaders and emotional bulwarks of the team. So, in addition to missing his defense and offense, the A’s will miss having him to rally around.

“He means a lot – the number, the performance, the Platinum Gloves, the power,” Melvin said. “But he’s one of the emotional leaders on this team. He’s a big voice in the clubhouse, a big voice on the field. He’s been a leader really since the moment that he arrived here.

“So, it’s one thing to look at the numbers and look at the player and (see) what you miss, but there’s also intangibles that we’ll miss, too. So, yes, this is quite a blow for us.”

NOTES:

--Melvin had talked in terms of having shortstop Marcus Semien, just back from some discomfort in his left side, play just one game of doubleheaders, and he did that with him Tuesday against the Astros. But Semien told Melvin he wanted to play both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader, and Melvin’s willing, assuming Semien doesn’t have a recurrence.

--Stephen Piscotty, who hasn’t started since last Monday – he did pinch-run once – because of left wrist problems, will start the second game of the doubleheader, Melvin said. Piscotty, who had a cortisone shot to deal with his wrist problem, should be good to go on a daily basis after that, the manager said.

--The A’s have another doubleheader, their third in a week, on Monday. The club is planning on having lefties Mike Minor and Jesus Luzardo pitch in that one in Seattle. The A’s will fly in Sunday night, play the Monday DH, then fly out to play in Colorado on Tuesday. The Seattle games help make up for a series lost to a positive COVID-19 test that shut the A’s down for almost a week in late August and early September.

--Game 1 starter Saturday, Daulton Jefferies, joined the team as the 29th man on the roster for the doubleheader. He will be making his Major League debut.

--Brown joins the A’s for the third time this year and is 0-for-4 in four games. He was on the A’s Opening Day roster and went 0-for-3 in three games, including one start at designated hitter, before he was optioned to the alternate site on Aug. 6 when rosters were reduced from 30 to 28. Brown returned Aug. 25 when Pinder went on the paternity list and struck out as a pinch hitter before he was optioned back to the alternate site Aug. 31 when Pinder returned.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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