Red Hot San Francisco Giants Star Reaches Milestone For Important Streak

The San Francisco signing bust has turned into the team's MVP during their season turnaround.

May 23, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (26) circles the bases on a three run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Giants won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants offseason signings have been under a microscope after the slow start to the season, but a struggler has turned into one of the team's best players.

Matt Chapman has been a big reason that the season has turned around. In Sunday's game against the New York Yankees, he extended his on-base streak to 20 games with a third-inning double off of Nestor Cortes.

He's now reached base in every game since going 0-for-4 against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10.

Entering the day, San Francisco was 12-7 during his streak as they battled back into playoff contention despite facing constant injury issues.

The 31-year-old had gotten off to an uncharacteristically poor start to the season, which caused a lot of backlash with his new contract. Before this streak, his OPS had gotten down to .586 with a slashing line of .205/.255/.331.

He was striking out a lot and not drawing walks, which had not been as big of an issue for him. In April, he had struck out 31 times and drew just six walks. That was closer to the numbers that he had during the least productive years of his career rather than the normal.

Outside 2020, his career-low BB/K ratio was .35 as a rookie. To start this season, it was down to just .20. During this streak, it's up to .70.

He's slashing .296/.405/.563 over the past couple of weeks. He's top-ten across baseball for WAR, OPS, WRC+.

Now, the Giants just need Blake Snell and Jorge Soler to turn things around to get the fan base back on the good side of President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi.

Snell has had flashes since returning from injury, but continues to fall apart during his starts. Soler has been consistent, it just so happens that it is consistently not at a level that fans want.

Chapman and Jordan Hicks have turned into the most successful additions in the offseason, but that might not be enough for people to think this was enough.

If things take another down turn, Chapman could be opened up to trade talks before the deadline.

The California native signed a three-year, $54 million deal this past offseason. There is a player opt-out option after this year, though, similar to the deal that could see Snell move on after one season.

If the stars don't feel comfortable with the team that has been built and want to compete, they could leave. San Francisco could get a jump start on the rebuild by trading away some pieces ahead of the deadline.

There has been a lot of criticism around the roster lacking a true star, could we see Zaidi go back to the drawing board after just one season?