SAN FRANCISCO — There’s no guarantee that Matt Chapman will return from his right hand injury prior to the All-Star Break, but on Tuesday, the third baseman took two important steps towards coming back before the season’s midway point.

Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins, Chapman took 20 swings off of a batting tee and played catch for the first time since landing on the injured list. Manager Bob Melvin said Chapman progressed to swinging and throwing “a little bit” sooner than expected, adding that it’s realistic for Chapman to return prior to the All-Star Break.

“Everything felt good,” Chapman said. “Normal soreness. Nothing out of the ordinary. I think I just have to work through some of that, get my strength back. It’s probably up to 85 percent. Not quite all the way there. I’m going to keep progressing, and the hope is to come back before the All-Star Break. … All signs point to yes, but until I face velocity and really start to push it, it’s going to be really hard to know. But I think today was a good first step.”

Added Melvin: “It’s the start of a process to where we can day-by day kind of figure out where we think he’s going to come back. We’ll see how he responds tomorrow. We’ll see how (trainer Dave Groeschner) ramps up the hitting portion of it. I know he feels pretty good in the fact that he can do more things.”

Chapman, placed on the injured list on June 10 (retroactive to June 9), will travel to the team’s Arizona complex to continue his rehab after the Giants travel to Chicago to face the White Sox and begin a 10-game road trip. He hopes to return during the Giants’ final home stand before the All-Star Break against the Philadelphia Phillies (July 7-9) and Los Angeles Dodgers (July 11-13).

“I’m going to use our spring training facilities, try to use every resource that I have to get myself right,” Chapman said. “I think after Arizona — that’s probably a little over a week — we’ll know a lot. It shouldn’t be much longer than that.”

Chapman said he does not plan on playing a rehab assignment before returning, but added “some of that stuff’s out of my control.”

“I think it just depends on how good my hand feels,” said Chapman, who has a .812 OPS. “If there’s question marks, maybe I would go play and see how it feels. But if my hand feels really good, then probably just go for it.”

Once Chapman returns, it’s very likely that Casey Schmitt slides over to second base and starts at that position.

In 12 games as Chapman’s replacement, Schmitt is posting a slash line of .415/.478/.732 with four home runs and 12 RBIs while providing above-average defense. With the Giants optioning second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald to Triple-A Sacramento, there is now a clear path for Schmitt to start at second base when Chapman is activated.

“I know what he’s capable of doing. Our whole team knows what he’s capable of doing,” Chapman said. “For him to step up and help this team while I’m gone is huge. … He’s playing so good he’s going to demand to stay in the lineup. It’s fun to see. What I was trying to preach to him was that this was a really good opportunity for him to show everybody what he could do. When you force their hand like that, it’s a good thing. It’s a good problem to have guys competing for remaining spots.”

Added Melvin: “There’s still some time left before we get there. Things tend to change pretty quickly. We’ll see how Tyler does. We’ll see how we get there and the timing of Chapman coming back. But if you sit here right now and look at it, the way he’s swinging the bat, we’d like to get his bat in there regardless.”

As for Fitzgerald, the Giants hope his stint in Triple-A will provide him with an opportunity to have some success and re-gain his confidence. At the time of his demotion, Fitzgerald was posting a .472 OPS over 32 games since returning from the injured list.

“When he has confidence, there are a lot of things he can do on the baseball field that a lot of guys here can’t do,” Melvin said. “It’s just clearing his mind, going down there, getting some at-bats without the stress of having to perform at the big league level. Hopefully, that gets him going.”

Said Chapman: “I think it was needed for him. It’s tough. You saw how much success he had last year and what he’s capable of doing. We all know what he’s capable of doing. It’s just unfortunately, we’re in a spot right now where we have to win right now. We have to play the best nine players that we have, and right now, he needed to just go get it right. … It’s not his swing. It’s not his skill. He just fell out of rhythm a little bit and wasn’t able to get going offensively.”