Matt Chapman returns from IL, back in Giants’ lineup; Tyler Fitzgerald optioned originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Third baseman Matt Chapman is back in the Giants’ lineup after spending the minimum 10 days on the injured list due to right hand inflammation.

To make room on the 26-man roster, infielder/outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento.

Chapman is batting sixth against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday at American Family Field.

The 32-year-old five-time Gold Glove Award winner has had two stints on the IL this season because of the hand injury.

On Thursday, Chapman fielded grounders at Petco Park before the Giants’ series finale against the San Diego Padres, hinting that a return was imminent.

In 96 games this season, Chapman is slashing .229/.337/.423 with 15 doubles, 16 homers and 44 RBI.

Fitzgerald hasn’t been able to recreate the success he had last season, bouncing back and forth between the big leagues and Triple-A this season.

In 72 games with the Giants this year, the 27-year-old is hitting .217/.278/.327 with four homers and 14 RBI.

The Giants (61-68) enter Saturday’s game 7.5 games out of the final National League wild card spot, and hope is fading fast. But Chapman’s return might give them the shot in the arm they need to make one last push for the playoffs.

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Where Jimmy Butler ranks on Stephen A. Smith’s five players to watch in 2025-26 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors are approaching their first full NBA season with Jimmy Butler in the mix after a successful half-season sample size.

Everyone, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, will be keeping an eye on how Butler helps Steph Curry and Co. as they make a run at the 2025-26 NBA title.

Smith recently revealed his list of the top five players to watch during the upcoming NBA season, and the pundit has Butler ranked at No. 4, ahead of Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving and behind new Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić and Mavericks center Anthony Davis.

“Here’s why [Butler] is so important,” Smith said on “First Take” on Friday morning. “Because his teammate [Curry] is the greatest shooter God has ever created, who, by the way, hospitalizes opponents who chase him around stupidly, trying to find out how you can do what you can with him and then they got to go to the hospital for oxygen, for air, because Steph Curry can do that to you, OK?

“You can’t ask him at age 37 to continue to do that without stepping up and showing Jimmy Buckets who the hell Jimmy Buckets is, reminding the world of Jimmy Buckets and what he brings to the table. Didn’t see much of that against Minnesota after Steph Curry went down. Got to make up for that this upcoming season, a full season under your belt in Golden State, because if Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry are on their game, noise can be made in the Western Conference.”

Butler, last season, joined the Warriors’ lineup on Feb. 8. Entering that game against the Chicago Bulls, Golden State had a 25-26 record, but went 23-8 to close out the regular season with a 48-34 record, good enough to secure the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed and the top spot in the NBA play-in tournament, which they advanced out of.

In the Warriors’ first-round NBA playoff series against the Rockets, Butler averaged 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists in six contests. He did sustain a pelvic contusion in Game 2 of the series that caused him to miss Game 3. He played in the final four games against Houston and scored at least 20 points three times, including 27 points twice.

Against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round, Butler was forced to carry the load for much of the series after Curry suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1, which the Warriors ultimately won. While Butler averaged 20.3 points in the four games without Curry, Golden State lost all four contests.

Curry gives any Warriors team a chance to win, but the franchise knows it needs him and Butler at the top of their game if they want to compete in a stacked Western Conference.

Dub Nation, the NBA world and Stephen A. all will be keeping a close watch on how Butler helps the Warriors this season.

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Bubba Chandler, the top pitching prospect in baseball, made his MLB debut on Friday as a reliever. He made the most of the role.

The Pittsburgh Pirates flame-thrower entered the game in sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies and proceeded to mow down MLB’s worst team for the next four innings, allowing only two hits while striking out three.

His fastball topped out at 100.4 mph in a 9-0 Pirates win, which also saw starter Braxton Ashcraft allow only one hit in five scoreless innings.

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The effort added up to a four-inning save for Chandler, which puts him in some rare company. He’s only the fourth player in the history of the save stat (which was officially recognized in 1969) to post a four-inning save in his debut and the first to do it while allowing no runs.

He’s also the first Pirate to ever post a save in his debut.

MLB Pipeline ranks Chandler as the No. 7 prospect in all of baseball and the second-best in the Pirates’ system, behind only No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin. Fans have waited for months for him to join the MLB team, and they’ll have to wait even longer to see him join a rotation led by another former top pitching prospect, Paul Skenes.

The Pirates view Chandler as a starter long-term, but had him debut as a reliever to make his introduction to MLB more gradual. If he finds his footing quickly, he could be starting games by the end of the season.

Shane Bieber didn’t look like a pitcher who missed nearly the entire 2024 campaign and most of this season in his first start since April 2 of last year.  

Bieber, acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays at the July 31 trade deadline, notched nine strikeouts while allowing one run and two hits over six innings in a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday. He threw 87 pitches, 55 of them for strikes.

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The right-hander struck out Xavier Edwards and Jakob Marsee to begin his start and retired five of the first six Marlins batters he faced. He left a baseball in the middle of the strike zone to the seventh batter, and Javier Sanoja hit it out for a solo home run. 

Bieber then retired the next 12 batters, striking out the side in the fourth. Marsee got the only other hit off the Blue Jays’ starter, hitting a changeup left in the middle of the zone for a single. Bieber then got Agustín Ramírez to fly out on a slider for his final out of the ballgame.

Toronto manager John Schneider couldn’t hide his glee afterward, beginning his postgame press conference by saying, “I’m a Belieber. I’ve got Bieber Fever.”

Mason Fluharty took over for Toronto in the seventh and retired two batters before Yariel Rodriguez finished the inning. Rodriguez gave up a home run to Maximo Acosta to lead off the eighth, leaving a fastball in the high outside corner of the zone. 

From there, the Marlins didn’t generate any more offense.

The Blue Jays’ lineup made sure Bieber’s effort wasn’t wasted, providing him with three runs before he took the mound in the first inning. Daulton Varsho‘s RBI double and a two-run single from Ty France spotted Bieber a 3-0 lead. Toronto added two more runs in the sixth, when Varsho crushed a Ryan Gusto cutter down the middle for his 14th homer of the season.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was again out of the Toronto lineup, missing his third consecutive game since leaving Monday’s contest with left hamstring inflammation. 

Gusto allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings with one walk and no strikeouts. His ERA increased to 5.05, and his record dropped to 7-6 in 26 appearances (16 starts) this season. Josh Simpson and Valente Bellozo combined for three scoreless innings of relief, allowing only one hit for the Marlins (60-68).

The Blue Jays improved to 75-54 with the victory and now hold a five-game lead for first place in the AL East with the New York Yankees’ 1-0 defeat to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are in second at 70-59, while the Yankees are a half-game behind in third place. 

Kirk Herbstreit has been doing his Herbie Awards for two decades, and once again, he put the spotlight on