Giants use outfielder at second base after Chapman, Adames injuries

PHOENIX — The utterly predictable assumption that Tony Vitiello dismissed as “made up” and didn’t want to consider before Monday’s game, of course, paid off just 24 hours later.

The abdominal strain that had been bothering Matt Chapman for more than a month got worse than ever, forcing the Giants’ third baseman to exit Tuesday’s 8-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

This was the situation the Giants feared without a backup player on their roster.

“We emphasized to him that there are two different moves that we can do, so don’t try to fight through this just because of the situation we’re in, where we’re a little inefficient,” Vitiello said.

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

A wait-and-see situation with Adams has left the Giants down a man since he left Sunday’s game. They refused to put him on the injured list until he was back healthy.

This is no longer possible after losing Chapman either.

“More than likely one way or another [Christian] “Kos is involved,” Vitiello said.

The Giants opted not to pull that lever in anticipation despite Kuss’ availability Monday and Vitello’s expression Tuesday that Adams would benefit from a few days off, hopefully keeping him off his feet until after Thursday.

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

When asked about the team’s plans if another player, like Chapman, goes down, Vitello said: “It’s going to be a little bit of what happens in the game as far as we want to run your own innovative scenario, which we won’t have to worry about.”

One day later, there was something to worry about.

Chapman will undergo an MRI on Wednesday but appears to be a strong candidate for the injured list. He is expected to miss three days soon anyway for the birth of his son due this weekend.

Like Adams and his back spasms, Chapman said he had been playing with abdominal issues for some time. In his case, it has been “hot and cold” since the beginning of May.

“It wasn’t affecting me – I would say something – but it was something we were addressing to try and keep me on the field,” Chapman said. “There have been good days and bad days. The last few weeks have probably been very difficult.

“For whatever reason, today when I ran into first place on my first at-bat, I started getting really angry and upset. Then it went away.

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

Chapman winced and grabbed center field after Gabriel Moreno retired the final out of the sixth inning, hitting a soft ground ball and firing Rafael Devers to first.

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

Chapman remained the starter in the game and made his next hit in the top of the seventh, but was clearly hurting. When the bottom of the inning began, Cox was at second base.

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

Cox, who had not played the field since college, was the designated backup in an emergency glass-breaking scenario. He was working with Ron Washington in anticipation, which seemed to pay off almost immediately when Cox had to dive to his left to make a play.

He seemed normal.

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

Chapman, a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, was impressed by what he saw on club television.

“He looked good out there,” Chapman said. “I was inside and saw how he dived. It’s like riding a bike for him.”

The good news, if you can call it that, is that it didn’t affect the outcome of a game in which the Giants already trailed 8-2. And Cox, whose speed and defense off the field have made him a useful player off the bench, may have a reason to expand his portfolio.

He carried with him a player’s glove dating back to the minor leagues.

“It became 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 him, who can play in all eight positions, so that’s something I aspired to do.”

Believe it or not, the circumstances that led him to use a fielder’s glove weren’t even the most bizarre in Cox’s career to lead to his appearance on the field.

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

“That was more of a story,” Cox said. “We had a guy hurt his head, a guy hurt his hamstring, a guy pulled a knee or something. A little less steps today.”

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