Chad Joseph Chop (born March 21, 1980) is a former minor league baseball outfielder and first baseman. From 2014–18, he worked as a special assistant for the San Francisco Giants, serving as a left-handed batting practice pitcher and video replay analyst.
Biography
Chop was born in Orange, California, and graduated from Tustin High School. He played two years at San Diego State (1999–2000) before transferring and playing two years at Vanguard University. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos. He spent four seasons in the Expos/Nationals' minor league system (2002–05) and one season with the independent Fullerton Flyers (2006).
After retiring as a player, he worked as a firefighter for the Tucson Fire Department from 2007 until 2013. He met Hunter Pence in an Orange County gym, who hired him as a left-handed batting practice coach. Pence invited Chop to spring training, and in 2014 the Giants hired him as a left-handed batting practice pitcher and video replay analyst, sharing replay duties with Shawon Dunston. In 2019, Chop joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as a video replay coordinator. As of 2022, he is head baseball coach at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy.