Sunday, August 03

Giants third baseman Matt Chapman always felt a bit envious when he saw teammates return from the birth of a child and immediately go deep in their first game back from paternity leave. He was thrilled to be able to unleash his own “Dad Strength” after he and his wife, Taylor, welcomed their daughter Gia last September.   

Chapman became a firm believer in the phenomenon after he homered twice in his first game as a father, becoming the 26th player to join the “Dad Strength” club since 2011. 

“I was really jealous of all the guys that come back after kids and hit homers,” Chapman said. “I was like, ‘I want to do that.’ And then I struck out in my first at-bat. I was like, ‘Oh, maybe, it’s not me.’ And then I ended up hitting two homers. It was great. I told my wife, ‘We’re going to need to have some more kids pretty quickly.’”

Chapman was looking forward to suiting up for his first Father’s Day as a dad on Sunday, though he’ll be forced to watch the action from the sidelines after landing on the 10-day injured list with right hand inflammation earlier this week. Still, Chapman will be able to celebrate the special day alongside his family in his native Southern California, as the Giants will be in town for a pivotal series against the rival Dodgers this weekend. 

“It’ll be really cool,” Chapman said. “My family will be there. It sucks that I won’t be playing on Father’s Day. That’s actually a bummer. I was looking forward to that. But I’ll get to see my family, so I’ll still be able to enjoy those moments.”

Chapman has certainly treasured his journey through fatherhood so far. Since Gia was born on Sept. 18, 2024, Chapman got to spend the entire offseason bonding with his daughter, learning to embrace the sleepless nights and all. 

“When somebody keeps you up all night, it takes a special person to still love them,” Chapman said. “But it’s only gotten better. It’s been awesome being a dad. I’m just excited she gets to be there. It’ll be even more exciting once she gets a little bit older and gets to kind of understand a little bit more what’s going on and come to the games and be excited. I see guys when their kids are a little bit older, and they’re so excited to be at the field. I’m excited for those days.”  

The most surprising part of being a parent so far? 

“I guess just how much you can just love another person,” Chapman said. “It’s a different kind of love. Everybody tells you, but every day that goes by, you just love them more. She makes me very happy, and I just love to watch her enjoy life. That’s probably the best part.”

Sunday will also be a chance for Chapman to celebrate his dad, Jim, whom he credits with helping him develop into the five-time Gold Glover he is today. 

“He’s probably the biggest reason why I’m here today,” Chapman said. “He put a baseball bat in my hand before I could even walk. I think he was grooming me to be a baseball player my whole life. He loves baseball. He made me fall in love with baseball. We spent a ton of time together as a kid. He’s somebody that I’ve looked up to for a long time. That’s the kind of dad I want to be like.” 

Jim had the opportunity to pitch to his son during the 2019 Home Run Derby, an experience that remains among Chapman’s most cherished baseball memories. Chapman crushed a respectable 13 home runs before bowing out to Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first round, though he still ribs his dad for not throwing him more pitches down the middle. 

“I wish he threw me some more strikes,” Chapman said. “It’s alright. I won’t hold it against him. Our family gives him enough crap for it.”  

With Patrick Bailey (neck strain) on the IL, the Giants will lean on two newcomers -- Andrew Knizner and Logan Porter -- to handle catching duties for now. 

Knizner, 30, will likely get the bulk of the playing time behind the plate, as he served as Yadier Molina’s backup during his time with the Cardinals and hit .367 with a 1.067 OPS over eight games with Triple-A Sacramento before before being called up as part of the Giants’ roster shakeup last week.

Knizner and Bailey share a connection, as they both happen to be NC State alums. While they didn’t overlap in college, they spent some time working out together in the offseason.  

"I laid all the groundwork for him," Knizner said last week. "I showed him what not to do at NC State."

“He’s awesome,” Bailey said of Knizner. “He plays with a lot of energy. He played with Yadi for a while. He has a really good understanding of the game, and he’s just a big personality.”

In need of a last-minute Father’s Day gift for a Giants fan? I highly recommend picking up a copy of “A Giant Among Giants: The Baseball Life of Willie McCovey,” a new biography of the San Francisco legend written by my predecessor and former MLB.com colleague Chris Haft.

Haft’s book offers an engrossing portrait of McCovey, who became perhaps the most beloved player in Giants history despite spending most of his career in the shadow of fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

Highlights of the book include a deep dive on McCovey’s infamous lineout to end Game 7 of the 1962 World Series; a look at his multifaceted relationship with Mays; the origin story of McCovey Cove; and a compilation of insights from nearly all of the Giants’ Willie Mac Award winners.

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