SAN FRANCISCO — Landen Roupp is back, but he won’t have a certain five-time Gold Glove player behind him.
The Giants announced on Friday evening that they placed Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to August 13) with right hand inflammation, the same hand he injured earlier this season.
Roupp, who will start on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays, was reinstated from the 15-day injured list after dealing with right elbow inflammation. Additionally, right-hander Keaton Winn has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and will take the place of Ryan Walker, who was placed on the paternity list.
Chapman was held out of the starting lineup on Wednesday as the Giants were swept by the Padres due to the ailment, and manager Bob Melvin said that Chapman underwent an MRI on Friday afternoon.
The third baseman originally injured his hand on June 8 when diving back to first base and would not return until July 5. Chapman had an .812 OPS with 12 homers at the time of the injury, but had a .655 OPS over 31 games since returning.
“It’s more of a question for him,” Melvin said when asked if Chapman’s injury played into his struggles. “He’s a pretty tough guy. During the course of the season, you’re going to play through some stuff. Some days, probably worse than others. We got to the point where we needed to take a look at it.”
Infielder Casey Schmitt took over at third base when Chapman went on the injured list in June, and he will slide back into that role for the time being.
Schmitt started at third base in place of Chapman on Wednesday and is once again slated to start at the hot corner on Friday. The 26-year-old has been one of San Francisco’s hottest hitters in recent days, hitting .308/.357/.538 with two homers and seven RBIs over his last 10 games.
Roupp, 26, was placed on the injured list on July 25 (retroactive to July 23) with right elbow inflammation after pitching five shutout innings against the Braves in Atlanta. The Giants said they believed Roupp’s injury was on the minor side, and Roupp only needed one rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento (three innings, two runs) before returning.
Regarding Roupp’s workload, Melvin said “it’s not going to be a full compliment” in his first start back. Roupp threw 50 pitches during his rehab start with the River Cats, and he’ll likely throw around 70 pitches against Tampa Bay.
Winn, 27, has not pitched at the major-league level this season. The right-hander began the season with Sacramento as a starter but has primarily pitched as a reliever since returning from a right shoulder injury that kept him out for roughly three months. As a reliever, Winn has allowed 14 earned runs over 11 2/3 innings (10.80 ERA) with 11 strikeouts to five walks.
Walker should be back for the Giants’ upcoming three-game series against the Padres in San Diego.
“We all know he’s really talented,” Melvin said. “We’ll kind of see how it plays out of the bullpen. For the most part, he’s been a starter. We’ve always kind of thought that maybe there’s something there as far as the bullpen with the fastball and split. The breaking ball’s always been his third pitch. As a reliever, maybe you can get away with two pretty good pitches.”
Miller nearing return
Left-handed reliever Erik Miller made his third rehab appearance on Thursday and is scheduled to throw again on Friday. The Giants will evaluate Miller on Sunday, and there’s a chance he could also be activated ahead of the team’s series in San Diego.
Miller, who has a 1.50 ERA over 30 innings, hasn’t pitched for the Giants since early July due to a left elbow sprain.
