LOS ANGELES -- After Giants third baseman Casey Schmitt made a costly error on a potential game-ending double play in Denver on Thursday night, Matt Chapman had a talk with him.
“That’s baseball,” Chapman said to him. “I’ve had that happen to me plenty of times. I’ve made errors this season. I’ve had some balls that I probably thought that I could’ve made that I didn’t make, but that happens.
“... Keep going forward.”
It didn’t take long for Schmitt to turn the page. Less than 24 hours later, on the biggest of stages that a mid-June game can possibly have, he redeemed himself with one swing.
After laying off the first two pitches he saw from Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the top of the third inning with the bases loaded, Schmitt got one he liked on the third pitch -- a splitter down in the zone -- and mashed it a Statcast-projected 423 feet.
As the ball sailed into the Elysian Park sunset, Schmitt turned to his teammates in the dugout, tossed his bat and pointed at them as he rounded first base.
Schmitt had his first career grand slam and simultaneously gave the Giants a solid lead in the series opener against their archrival. Their 6-2 win at Dodger Stadium on Friday moved the Giants into a tie for first place in the NL West. But even moreso, that home run was personal to him.
Why? Just before his at-bat, Yamamoto walked Wilmer Flores on five pitches to load the bases.
“It felt like they were trying to put Flo on to get to me in that situation,” Schmitt said. “... I understand, it’s the game. But the inner competitor in me really wanted that bad.”
“You feel great for him, because this kid works really hard to prepare for a game,” manager Bob Melvin said. “There’s a lot of ability there, both defensively and offensively. The grand slam obviously is the biggest hit of the game and gave way to a little breathing room. So hats off to him to turn around the next day and put together an at-bat like that.”
It was Schmitt’s second homer of the road trip. His bat has provided a steady presence, slashing .400/.500/.800 in the absence of Chapman, who went on the IL on June 10 with right hand inflammation.
“He’s going to be in there for at least another three or four weeks playing third base,” Chapman said. “So this is just reps and experience that he can use to help contribute.”
Chapman jammed his throwing hand on June 8 when diving back into first base on a pickoff, and it was later revealed via MRI that he had sprained ligaments in his index, middle and ring fingers and a bone bruise. On Friday afternoon, he met with hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin, who was pleased by how much the swelling had gone down since the initial injury.
But even if his re-evaluation next week goes well and Chapman gets cleared to start swinging a bat and doing exercises on his right hand, the most optimistic of timelines still has him making his return just before the All-Star break. Manager Bob Melvin doesn’t want to commit to any timeframe until Chapman can resume baseball activities.
“He’s always going to be optimistic if you talk to him,” Melvin said. “So you got to temper that a little bit. But the news we got from Dr. Shin was good news today. He’s very pleased with how it’s recovering, and we’ll go from there.”
In the meantime, though, Schmitt is taking the opportunity to soak up as much as he can from the Giants’ star.
“He’s one of the best third basemen in the game,” Schmitt said of Chapman. “I’m all ears on whatever he has to tell me. Defensively, he’s been a really big help for me, helping me get comfortable whether it’s defense or hitting.”
And with Chapman sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Giants are going to need both from Schmitt.
“We need him,” Chapman said. “He’s going to be a big part of our team, even when I come back. … He’s in a good spot. The way he’s swinging the bat, I think he’s going to really start coming into his own offensively and then the defensive, when he gets into a good rhythm, he’s got great hands. He has a great arm. He’s a good infielder.”