San Francisco Giants Star Has Turned Beautifully Violent Swing Into Power Stroke

A San Francisco Giants slugger has added power along with his violently beautiful swing.

Aug 24, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (26) takes a swing during an at-bat against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. / Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sport

There is going to be a lot of pressure on the left side of the San Francisco Giants infield to carry the load offensively during the 2025 season.

Shortstop Willy Adames was signed to be an impact hitter, providing elite production at the plate from the shortstop position. His power numbers are something the team desperately needed more of.

He is coming to the Giants on a high note after crushing a career-high 32 home runs and 33 doubles. A big reason for his bounce back performance after a surprisingly underwhelming 2023 was the increase in swing speed.

Adames isn’t the only San Francisco player who experienced a jump in his swing speed in 2024, as third baseman Matt Chapman also made the list.

As shared by David Adler of MLB.com, he already possessed one of the fastest bats in the Major Leagues.

Chapman was already above average at 75.5 mph in the second half of the 2023 campaign, which was 23rd in the league. In 2024, he upped that average to 76.6 mph, which was the sixth best in baseball.

Not only does Chapman’s swing the bat fast, he did so without having to extend the length of his swing. His 7.5 feet is one of the shortest in the game, creating a beautifully violent swing that resulted in a power surge of his own.

Reaching “extreme speeds” of 80+ mph did mean a slight drop in his contact swings where he squared up a pitch. But, it did result in an increase in power swings and blast rate.

That directly correlates with Chapman launching 27 home runs, which was tied for the second most in a single season of his career. His 39 doubles tied a career high, producing the highest oWAR of his career at 5.4.

What makes those numbers even more impressive is the fact that he got off to such a slow start in 2024.

His slugging percentage was under .400 in the last week of June, which included some bad luck as hisactual statistics were lower than his expected stats based on contact quality.

Once that luck began to turn, his production skyrocketed.

For the final three months of the season, Chapman’s slugging percentage increased. In July his slugging percentage was .455. August he produced a .520 and in the final month of the campaign it was an eye-popping .603.

The slugging percentage in September/October was especially impressive when taking into consideration that his bating average on balls in play was only .255, well below the league average of .295.

These are all signs pointing toward him having another big year in the middle of the Giants order along with Adames.

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