PHOENIX — The entirely predictable hypothetical that Tony Vitello dismissed as “made up” and didn’t want to think about before Monday’s game, of course, came to fruition barely 24 hours later.

An abdominal strain that had been bothering Matt Chapman for more than a month flared up worse than ever before, forcing the Giants’ third baseman out of Tuesday’s 8–2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

It was just the situation the Giants feared without a backup infielder on their roster.

“We assured him,” Vitello said, “there’s a couple different moves we can make, so don’t try to fight through this thing just because of the situation we’re in, where we’re a little shorthanded.”

With Willy Adames (back spasms) already unavailable, the Giants ended the game with Luis Arraez at third base for the first time since 2022 and an outfielder — Jonah Cox — at second. 

The wait-and-see situation with Adames has effectively left the Giants a man down since he left Sunday’s game. They have declined to place him on the injured list to bring in a healthy body.

That’s no longer tenable after losing Chapman, too.

Chapman was placed on the 10-day injured list before Wednesday’s game, with Christian Koss recalled from Triple-A to take his roster spot, alleviating some of the strain on their infield.

The Giants opted not to pull that lever in anticipation despite Koss being on hand Monday and Vitello on Tuesday expressing that Adames would benefit from a few days off, with the hope to keep him off his feet until after Thursday’s off day.

When Heliot Ramos was activated Monday, the Giants opted to open a roster spot by trading Buddy Kennedy to the Mariners for cash, leaving them with six outfielders and no backup infielders.

Posed a question about the team’s plans should another infielder, such as Chapman, were to go down, Vitello said, “it’ll be a little bit of what’s going on in the game as far as how we want to manage your made-up scenario, which we won’t worry about.”

A day later, it was something to worry about.

Chapman’s MRI showed only a “mild” strain, per Vitello, but with him expected to go on the paternity list soon anyway and with the tricky nature of core injuries, it was an easier call to IL him than Adames.

With less than two weeks to go until the All-Star break, Vitello dismissed the idea of giving Chapman a couple extra days to heal. He expects the third baseman back “a little before the All-Star break,” which would have to mean the minimum time on the IL or just a day or two more.

“I think it’s serious enough that regardless of the situation at home [with the pending birth of his child], he was going to need a decent amount of time,” Vitello said. “But I don’t think it’s severe enough to push past that point.”

Adames, meanwhile, remains on track to return to the lineup Friday. The shortstop who only missed three games combined the last two seasons said he is going “crazy” sitting out for the third straight game.

Like Adames and his back spasms, Chapman said he’d been playing through abdominal problems for some time. In his case, the pain started around his hip flexor and worked its way up to his lower midsection. He said it’s been “hot and cold” since the start of May.

“It hasn’t been to where it’s been affecting me — I would say something — but it’s been something we’ve been treating to try to keep me on the field,” Chapman said. “There’s been good days and bad days. These last couple weeks, probably, it’s been really tight.

“For whatever reason, today when I ran to first in my first at-bat, I started to feel it get really pissed off and bother me. Then it went away.

“When I made that barehanded play, that was the first time that it made me cringe and go down a little bit to where I was actually in a lot of pain.”

Chapman winced and grabbed at his midsection after retiring Gabriel Moreno for the final out of the sixth inning, barehanding a soft groundball and firing to Rafael Devers at first.

Meanwhile, Cox was on high alert in the batting cages behind the visitors’ dugout.

Chapman initially remained in the game and took his next at-bat in the top of the seventh, but he was clearly in pain. When the bottom of the inning began, Cox was at second base.

“He took a swing and kind of pulled up,” Cox said. “I was like, ‘Ohhh, here we go.’”

Cox, who hadn’t played the infield since college, was the designated backup in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency scenario. He had been working with Ron Washington just in case, which appeared to pay off almost instantly when Cox had to dive to his left to make a play.

He looked like a natural.

“I kind of blacked out a little bit,” Cox said. “It’s one of those things where I’m happy it wasn’t a routine play because there wasn’t much time to think on that one.”

Chapman, the five-time Gold Glove winner, was impressed by what he saw on the clubhouse TV.

“He looked good over there,” Chapman said. “I was inside and saw the diving play. It’s like riding a bike for him.”

The good news, if you can call it that, is that it didn’t impact the outcome of a game the Giants already trailed 7-2. And Cox, whose speed and outfield defense have made him a useful bench piece, may have a reason to expand his portfolio.

He’s carried an infielder’s glove — inscribed “Lil Cox” — with him dating back to the minor leagues.

“It’s kind of become a running joke the last few years in the minors because I always carried it with me,” Cox said. “I grew up watching Chris Taylor and guys like that, who can play literally all eight positions, so that’s kind of something I’ve aspired to be.”

Believe it or not, these weren’t even the most outlandish circumstances that led to him putting that mitt to use in a brief cameo on the infield dirt.

He logged four innings at second base once with Single-A San Jose.

“That was even more of a story,” Cox said. “We had a guy get hit in the head, a guy get a hamstring and a guy tear an oblique or something like that. A little less steps today.”

California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post SportsFacebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!