Matt Chapman’s potentially costly attempt to steal second base in the ninth inning Sunday wasn’t done on a whim, ill-advised as it was. The San Francisco Giants’ third baseman wanted to avoid a double play and thought he had a good opportunity to go, but, like many things with the team right now, it went wrong.
He was thrown out with San Francisco trailing by three and the team’s top home-run threat, Rafael Devers at the plate. It appeared entirely boneheaded, and Chapman didn’t stick around after the game to explain. But he spoke at length with reporters Monday, and he did not absolve himself as he provided his logic.
“That’s just bad baserunning on my part,” Chapman said. “Obviously I’m aware of the score, (Devin) Williams was really slow to the plate those first couple pitches. In my head, I was thinking, ‘We’ve grounded into some double plays,’ and then I just picked a really bad time to do it — when I stole, he sped up a little bit, and it looks really bad when you make an out, killing our rally, and it looks like a meaningless run, right, because we need to get multiple guys on base to even have an opportunity to come back.
“If I could do it over again, I would not elect to steal that base. I was paying attention, I just made a bad, bad decision there. … That’s completely my fault. That’s on me and I won’t do that again.”
It’s all part and parcel with Sunday’s game and the two before that, when the Giants made multiple mistakes and struggled to hit. Chapman said it was an example of trying to do a little too much, something that the team as a whole did too much in the first 10 games.
The answer will be just getting back to basics, Chapman said, but the players are well aware how awful things have looked. And even when things have gone well, often that’s erased by a miscue. A great stop in the field is followed by a bounced throw to first that doesn’t get scooped or a line-drive single is followed by a poor turn around first — or, as Chapman speculated, if he’d stayed put, the ball Devers hit would have gotten through with the infield at double play depth.
“It’s a frustrating feeling that it’s right there, and we kind of let it get away from us,” Chapman said, adding later, “I think things like that get magnified at the beginning, and it sucks when it looks sloppy. That kind of shot us in the foot a little bit last year and was one of the reasons we probably weren’t able to finish strong. But I don’t think it’s something that’s going to be the story of our season by any means.”
As for the offense, Chapman believes the team — tied for last in the league in runs, with 26 going into Monday’s game — is having good at-bats but simply isn’t stringing hits together yet; neither were the Mets until Friday through the rest of the series, and their onslaught started with a few balls finding holes in the infield.
“We’re right there,” Chapman said. “We’re knocking on the door and then we do something to kind of sabotage ourselves. But I don’t think there are bad vibes or anything like that in here. I think we know what we’re capable of, and we’re not playing to our capabilities so far. It’s still early, it’s no reason to panic, but we’re hungry and determined to get where we need to go.”
Briefly: Reliever Joel Peguero (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday. … Lefty Reiver Sanmartin (hip flexor strain) has started his throwing program; he is not expected to be an option until June. … Daniel Susac is likely to start behind the plate Tuesday with a left-hander, Cristopher Sánchez, on the mound.