Giants place Matt Chapman on injured list with right hand inflammation

SAN FRANCISCO — When Matt Chapman returned from a badly sprained hand on July 5, he acknowledged that the injury hadn’t fully healed and that he expected to play through discomfort for the remainder of the season.

Six weeks later, Chapman’s season may have come to an abbreviated end. The San Francisco Giants placed their Gold Glove third baseman on the 10-day injured list Friday and sent him for an MRI exam. Results weren’t immediately available, but with the Giants rapidly playing their way into irrelevance this season, it won’t make much sense to rush back an important core player who is under contract for five more seasons.

“Look, he’s a pretty tough guy,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “During the course of the season, you’re gonna play through some stuff. I think some days (were) probably worse than others. We’ve got to the point where we needed to take a look at it.”

Prior to taking Wednesday off, Chapman had started 31 consecutive games — and played all but three of the team’s defensive innings at third base — after returning from his initial IL stint. The 32-year-old infielder acknowledged he had to grind a little harder in recent weeks. Not surprisingly, it’s been a struggle for him in August. He is hitting .162 with one extra-base hit in 45 plate appearances over 11 games.

The Giants started Casey Schmitt at third base Friday as they begin a home series with the Tampa Bay Rays. They’ve lost 13 of 14 home games since July 12, which hadn’t happened in a single season since 1940. They are scoring 1.8 runs per game over that span and hitting .146 with runners in scoring position. Schmitt is a rare exception. He’s batting .308 this month with three doubles and two home runs. Now he’ll shift from second base to play his natural position. The Giants started Christian Koss at second base Friday but could take another look at Tyler Fitzgerald at the position.

The Giants are likely to give more rest to other core players down the stretch, too. But Melvin didn’t want to give a day off to center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who was looking forward to playing against his friend and former Kiwoom Heroes teammate Ha-Seong Kim.

The Giants also placed right-hander Ryan Walker on the paternity list and replaced him with right-hander Keaton Winn, whose season was marred by injuries but is coming off consecutive scoreless innings while pitching out of the bullpen for Triple-A Sacramento. Right-hander Landen Roupp (elbow inflammation) returned from his rehab assignment and will start on Friday.

(Photo: Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)