Schmitt welcoming Chapman's presence, shifts focus to shortstop

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As a slick-fielding third baseman with Gold Glove potential, Casey Schmitt often drew comparisons to Matt Chapman when he was coming up through the Giants’ Minor League system.

The parallels meant a lot to Schmitt, who will now get a chance to be Chapman’s teammate following the two-time Platinum Glove winner’s arrival to the Giants.

“That was cool to get those comps,” Schmitt said. “Now I get to meet him and play with him, so I’m excited to go out and get to work.”

The aftershock of the Chapman deal was most acutely felt by J.D. Davis, who will be forced to cede his starting spot to his former Cal State Fullerton teammate, but Schmitt will have to deal with some ripple effects as well. With Chapman taking over third for at least 2024, Schmitt will have fewer paths to playing time with the Giants, though he remains in the mix for a backup infield role this spring.

“Our conversations with Casey -- even before this deal happened -- were around kind of being prepared for a variety of different roles because we think he can be a big league contributor, even if he’s not the everyday third baseman,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. “In the long term, we still view that as his best position and know that he, like every player, wants to be an everyday player. It’s just not that uncommon for young players to break [into the Majors in] more part-time roles or in roles that demand a little bit more versatility and flexibility.”

Schmitt, 25, saw time at third, second and shortstop after debuting with the Giants last year, but he seems likely to open the season at Triple-A Sacramento due to the club’s surplus of infielders. He’s been day-to-day with a left ankle sprain that he suffered last week, but he’s starting to progress to baseball activities and should return to action soon.

The Giants plan to have Schmitt shift his focus to shortstop once he’s healthy, as he’s still competing for the starting job there along with Nick Ahmed, Marco Luciano and Tyler Fitzgerald.

“Shortstop is not played out yet,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He [Schmitt] came in and said, ‘Will I have an opportunity to play some short and potentially dig for that job?’ It’s probably more the case right now for him.”

Shortstop was a relatively new position for Schmitt last year, but he feels he’s adapted well after making 42 appearances there during his rookie season with the Giants.

“Pretty comfortable,” Schmitt said. “It feels like it’s going pretty well, so I’m working on it. We’re doing good.”