San Francisco Giants Summer Check Up

San Francisco Giants

32-31 (T-2^nd in NL West)

Eye Popping Number

.331

The San Francisco Giants could be considered the luckiest team in baseball so far. They’re in the thick of the NL West despite a negative run differential (giving up more runs than they’ve scored) and not getting the best return on their big offensive acquisitions this offseason in Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen. The biggest indicator of their luck is the team’s .331 batting average on balls in play. That number is .15 points higher than any other team in baseball, or just about the same difference between second place that second place is to ninth place. The reason it’s a good indicator of luck is because you usually need some luck to hit the ball where the defense isn’t.

Biggest Surprise

The supporting cast is showing up the big name stars in the lineup. Buster Posey is continuing to put up numbers, and Brandon Crawford has been outstanding, but Longoria, McCutchen, Joe Panik, Andrew Jackson, and Hunter Pence have not (in Pence’s case, he’s still looking for his first home run to give you an indication of how bad he’s been). Instead, carrying the team is Brandon Belt with big contributions from Gorkys Hernandez, Nick Hundley, Mac Williamson, Alen Hanson, and the Kung Fu Panda himself, Pablo Sandoval. Combined, those six players have a 142 OPS+, meaning they’ve hit 42% better than the average hitter this season, which is what anyone would have considered those guys before the season if not below average.

Player to Watch

Brandon Belt has been the second best first baseman in baseball this year. He’s always been just a very good first baseman since making his debut in 2011, but now he’s moving into the upper echelon of a position that is known for its offensive prowess. He’s on pace to set new career highs in batting average (.307), on base percentage(.403), slugging percentage (.547), and home runs (currently 11, career high is 18). He’s also been versatile in the field, playing left field as well to allow the Giants to play Buster Posey more at first, and swapping Hunter Pence’s bat with Nick Hundley which has been very valuable for them this year.

What to Watch for at the Deadline

The Giants got rid of most of their top prospects in the Longoria and McCutchen trades this past offseason, so it’ll be hard for them to get in the bidding wars for top trade candidates. They do need starting pitching terribly bad. Even if they’re offense has been somewhat lucky, it has still been good, and they’re bullpen goes 6 deep, but outside of Johnny Cueto, who is injured in the midst of his best season of his career, and Madison Bumgarner, who just made his first start of the season, their starters have struggled. Cole Hamels (Texas) would be at their top of their list, but he’ll likely be too expensive. They probably should have tried to get Matt Harvey when he was designated for assignment from the New York Mets, and still may try to trade for him from the Cincinnati Reds. Other options that may be in their budget are Francisco Liriano (Detroit) (almost makes too much sense because his name is Francisco), or JA Happ (Toronto). If they want to go for depth just to make the postseason, and let Cueto, Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija take it from there, Mike Fiers (Detroit) and Jordal Lyles (San Diego) could be options.

*All stats as of 6/9 via fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com