Oakland Athletics: Matt Chapman out for the season, will undergo surgery

Oakland Athletics’ third baseman Matt Chapman has been declared out for the season.

Matt Chapman has been out of action since September 6th dealing with what’s been described as hip tendinitis. But the Oakland Athletics announced the worst-case scenario on Saturday.

And that scenario is that Chapman will undergo hip surgery and is set to miss the rest of the season. It’s the news that no one wanted to or expected to hear, but it’s now become the reality of the situation.

For an A’s team that will almost certainly win the AL West and will be looking forward to what they hope will be a deep playoff run, this is obviously a major blow.

Although his struggles at the plate have been evident over the past month or so, Chapman remains arguably the A’s best position player and the heart and soul of the team.

In 37 games in 2020, Chapman slashed .232/.276/.535 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI in 152 plate appearances. However, his numbers took a big hit with the Gold Glove third baseman batting just .120 with 17 strikeouts over his last eight games.

Matt Chapman’s hip injury was likely the cause of his recent struggles.

Prior to leaving a game against the San Diego Padres in the fourth inning, Chapman was a woeful 0-for-11 with 10 strikeouts in that series. After fielding a ground ball from former teammate Jurickson Profar, Chapman exited with tightness in his hip.

Now, it seems as though the A’s have gotten to the root of his recent struggles at the plate.

The surgery is set to be performed this Friday by specialist Dr. Marc Philippon in Vail, Colorado. Philippon is a renowned doctor who has also operated on the likes of Chapman’s teammates Mark Canha and San Francisco Giants‘ catcher Buster Posey — both to great success.

So at least the thought is that Chapman will make a full recovery, but that doesn’t exactly help the A’s this season. In the meantime, expect Oakland to deploy the likes of Tommy La Stella, Vimael Machin, and Chad Pinder at third base.

But obviously, no one will be able to make up for Chapman’s production both at the plate and especially in the field.

The A’s will have to move forward without their team leader, without Matt Chapman. And it will be all hands on deck as they trek towards the postseason.