San Francisco Giants: Left Field Production Has Been Truly Terrible

The San Francisco Giants have had some terrible batting this season, but left field has played especially poorly.

For the San Francisco Giants, 2017 has not gotten off on the right foot. The team has slumped to a disappointing 16-24 record and stands a distant 8.5 games out of first place in the National League West. FanGraphs gives them just an 11 percent chance of making the playoffs, and even this seems optimistic given their struggles.

Much of the Giants’ problems stem from a general inability to score runs. Their offense ranks among the worst in baseball in nearly every category. The cumulative batting average of .229 is the fifth-worst in baseball. Looking at on-base percentage does not improve things much, as only the San Diego Padres have a worse figure. Combining this with just 30 home runs and an isolated power of .122, both of which are the lowest in the game, it is fair to say that they have had one of the least productive offenses this season.

Even looking individually, the team lacks many stars. Buster Posey has played excellently this year. Reaching base nearly every other plate appearance, the catcher has been one of the hottest bats all year. The righty has not only improved his ability to reach base but is also seeing an uptick in the power department.

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Moving to first base, Brandon Belt has undoubtedly been better than average so far as well. Still, his production has been significantly worse this season than in previous years. Although the lefty is walking more and hitting for more power, a 50-point drop in batting average and surge in strikeouts are certainly causes for alarm.

Aside from Posey and Belt, however, no other player with more than 20 plate appearances has a weighted runs created plus, wRC+, greater than 100. Weighted runs created plus measures the total offensive output of an individual or team and scales it such that a wRC+ of 100 is equal to the league average. The San Francisco Giants’ non-pitchers own the National League’s worst figure at 78.

The general lack of offense is even worse in the left field, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times noted on Twitter. The team’s bunch of left fielders has batted a combined .204 with a .256 on-base percentage, and a .272 slugging percentage. All three statistics are the worst in the National League.

Thus far, the Giants have relied on some a combination of seven different players. Eduardo Nunez and Gorkys Hernandez have played the most so far, but neither has played well at all. Chris Marrero had previously manned left field for the San Francisco Giants, but he has since cleared waivers and returned to Triple-A after providing effectively no production in 15 games.

Nunez, who will turn 30 in one month, has had a bit of a rough start to the season after playing modestly well over the past one and one-half years. A surge in groundballs combined with a decrease in hard contact appears to be the culprit to his .254 batting average and .058 isolated power. As bad as this year has been for the righty, he is still a good bet for improvement. His power output has been drastically lower than his career average, and this could return to normal if he can correct his groundball issue.

Teammate Gorkys Hernandez has mostly played in center field while filling in for an injured Denard Span, but also spent some time in left field with similarly disastrous results. In fact, Hernandez has a lower batting average and isolated power, with his total offensive output being roughly 64 percent worse than the average batter. Striking out 24 percent of the time has not helped his case either, and he could be a good candidate to go should the Giants shake things up in the outfield.

Unfortunately for the San Francisco Giants, the abysmal offense has squandered solid pitching. The team’s earned run average may not be so pristine, but other statistics paint a prettier picture. The Giants boast above-average strikeout and walk rates. Madison Bumgarner pitched well before his injury, and Jeff Samardzija has posted excellent peripheral statistics despite allowing quite a few runs. The righty has struck out 63 batters against just 10 walks in 53 innings. Given an abnormally low strand rate, he appears ready for a big improvement as the season progresses.

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At the end of the day, the San Francisco Giants have an uphill climb to earn a Wild Card berth or to take home the division crown. Still, they could make things interesting if the offense re-emerges from its current deep sleep.