DUNEDIN, Fla. — Weary from a hectic couple of days but energized by the new opportunity before him, Matt Chapman joined his new Toronto Blue Jays teammates early Friday morning and began acclimating to his new surroundings.
Having been welcomed by George Springer and Bo Bichette, among others, prior to his arrival while also getting the lowdown from Marcus Semien, the star third baseman quickly embraced his new home.
He marvelled at the surroundings of the Player Development Complex, heaped praise on his new teammates and worked to wrap his mind around a December-style transition during the first week of spring training.
“It is crazy,” he said during an engaging early-morning conversation with media. “It’s been a weird off-season for baseball, a weird couple of years for the world. We’re all used to different situations now. But after the lockout, I knew things would happen fast. I’m sure teams were kind of preparing themselves for this moment. I packed light knowing that anything could happen. Me and my wife prepared as good as we could… Just extremely excited for this new opportunity. When you sign up for baseball, you know anything can happen.”
Plenty has for the Oakland Athletics, engaged in the latest teardown of their perennial build-then-break cycle. The trades earlier this week of starter Chris Bassitt and first baseman Matt Olson preceded Chapman’s departure and set the stage for his exit.
He’d heard in advance that his name was out there and had been preparing himself mentally for the inevitable. When told it was the Blue Jays, “I was excited,” he said. “An end in Oakland and a new beginning in Toronto.”
“I’ve always enjoyed coming here on the road,” he continued. “I’ve always thought it was a really fun ballpark to play at. The city’s been amazing. The fans are passionate and obviously this team is special. This team has a lot of great talent on it and I’m just so happy to be a part of it and be able to come in and help compete for a World Series.”
Matt Chapman excited for ‘new beginning’ with Blue Jays
Source: Pinas Ko Mahal
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