Giants See Success Following Offseason Plan
When the last out of the World Series was recorded on a cold night in Kansas City, former General Manager (now Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations) Brian Sabean cried a little out of pure joy, and then began his offseason process.
In year's past, he has stuck with signing players who have been thrown away by other teams, only to see them have career years with the Giants. Some examples may be Micheal Morse, Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Pat Burrell and Edgar Renteria. This year, he wanted hitters.
When the "big" offseason signing for the team by the bay was Nori Aoki, fans were disappointed. They wanted a guy who could hit home runs and hit them often. Instead, they lost Morse and Pablo Sandoval, two of their biggest power hitters from last season.
Despite the signing of Aoki and keeping inexperienced guys like Joe Panik and Matt Duffy in the lineup - this starting lineup is nearly hitting .300 and have the most hits in the league.
I'd say his plan is working.
The pitching is still a question mark with a tired bullpen and shaky starting pitchers not named Madison Bumgarner, but the offense is deep throughout the lineup.
Yes, the Giants have lost five-straight games, but they also won five straight games before this streak. They are 30-25 and only two games behind the first place Dodgers - I'd say they are doing alright.
Just to show how deep this team is, here are the starting eight hitters with their batting average:
1. Nori Aoki (.317)
2. Joe Panik (.307)
3. Buster Posey (.285)
4. Hunter Pence (.282)
5. Brandon Belt (.306)
6. Brandon Crawford (.293)
7. Angel Pagan (.297)
8. Matt Duffy (.270)
That's an average lineup of .295 until you reach the pitcher.
For every negative they have about power hitting, they have a positive for overall hitting. The Giants are ranked 21st in home runs, but have the 8th fewest strikeouts. They rank 16th in RBIs, but also place third in On-Base Percentage. Ranked 13th in slugging percentage, but seventh in OPS.
Despite the peewee-sized lineup, the improvement of speed and hitting have turned this lineup into a threat. Will they be a big enough threat to compete with the dodgers power lineup? Only time will tell (and the 7-2 record against them already this year).
