{"id":628915,"date":"2026-04-25T00:20:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628915\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T00:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:20:30","slug":"a-position-by-position-look-at-where-the-giants-are-struggling-the-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/628915\/","title":{"rendered":"A position-by-position look at where the Giants are struggling the most"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, the San Francisco Giants were one-hit for the second time this season, putting them in rare company. Even though they\u2019ve played just 25 games, they\u2019re\u00a0now the<\/a>\u00a011th team in franchise history to have at least two one-hitters thrown against them<\/a>. The last one to suffer the same fate was the 2010 Giants, if that makes you feel better, which it does not.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Giants are supposed to be a team that can hit dingers, but they\u2019re too often a team that can be shut down by just about anyone with a 97-mph fastball and an idea of where to put it. It\u2019s also a team that just had an impressive series against the best team in baseball, series finale be damned, so it\u2019s probably not the best time to absolutely eviscerate them. They\u2019ve become complicated, which is much better than they were just a week ago, but, well, it\u2019s complicated.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s look at where the Giants have been struggling or holding their own around the diamond, and we\u2019ll use Wins Above Average<\/a>, which accounts for park and defense, but also includes everyone who plays a position, giving you a good idea of how the team as a whole is doing. (Note that this isn\u2019t the same thing as WAR, a different stat on a different scale. A completely unhelpful way to remember this is that WAR is what you bring to Wario\u2019s front door, and WAA is what he says when you\u2019ve brought it there.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where the Giants rank among the 30 MLB teams in WAA at each position, along with what that says about the team\u2019s direction and if there might be help on the way.<\/p>\n

To start, your palate is always getting cleansed. So let\u2019s start with a palate dirtier and really muck that sucker up.<\/p>\n

Overall \u2014 29th\u00a0out of 30 (-2.8 WAA)<\/p>\n

Not ideal! If there\u2019s any consolation, it\u2019s there are a lot of would-be contenders keeping the Giants company. The Mets are below them, of course, and the Rays, Phillies, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Astros are all around the bottom of the WAA standings. This is a great place to start because it gives the numbers below some context. Some of the individual numbers won\u2019t look so bad, but keep the collective results in mind. (Note that all plate appearances reflect those taken when the player was actively playing the position, not as a pinch-hitter.)<\/p>\n

Starting pitching \u2014 27th\u00a0(-0.9 WAA)<\/p>\n

Tyler Mahle\u2019s recent start was more than a little encouraging, and Logan Webb has both pitched less effectively than normal and had buzzard\u2019s luck, the sinkerballer\u2019s eternal curse. They can both be true, so maybe there are glimmers of hope. Landen Roupp has been outstanding, and Robbie Ray has been as good as the Giants could have possibly hoped. There could be a rotation here, after all.<\/p>\n

\"Adrian<\/p>\n

\n The jury is still out on whether Adrian Houser was a good signing. (Orlando Ramirez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the good news. There\u2019s plenty of room to be concerned with Adrian Houser, and his positively Rueterian strikeout rate (4.6 K\/9!), and he\u2019ll get side-eyed until he has a proof-of-concept start like Mahle\u2019s on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Bullpen \u2014 9th\u00a0(0.3 WAA)<\/p>\n

One of the most unsettled parts of the team heading into the season, the bullpen was still completely disheveled into the first two weeks \u2026 and then they smoothed things out. Not entirely, but enough to look like the kind of bullpen that was built on purpose, with defined roles and everything. Ryan Walker has looked like the best version of himself in his last two outings, both saves, and that\u2019s important because the best version of Walker was pretty remarkable.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a long way to go still, but even though the Giants\u2019 bullpen is somehow in the top 10, they\u2019re trending upward. Yet another reminder that I should have been a basketball analyst.<\/p>\n

Catcher \u2014 24th\u00a0(-0.4 WAA)Patrick Bailey \u2014 66 PA
Daniel Susac \u2014 20 PA<\/p>\n

This one was much higher before Thursday\u2019s game, which shows how vulnerable all of these numbers are to relatively wild fluctuations early in the season. Bailey\u2019s exquisitely timed three-run homer against the Dodgers on Wednesday got them out of the dungeon, and Susac\u2019s absurd start (albeit in 23 at-bats) and their collective defense has made up for the overall abysmal offensive numbers from the starter. Bailey can have some of the worst slumps in baseball history, and that\u2019s not hyperbole. When he\u2019s cold, he can get as cold as anybody ever has been<\/a>. Ever! He\u2019s also better than anyone has ever been at stealing strikes, which helps even all of this out.<\/p>\n

See? Complicated. But, more specifically, bad at hitting (unless it\u2019s a high-leverage situation against the Dodgers, and this tradeoff is more than fair).<\/p>\n

First base \u2014 28th\u00a0(-0.8)Rafael Devers \u2014 63 PA
Casey Schmitt \u2014 29 PA
Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n \u2014 6 PA<\/p>\n

You knew this was coming. The simple truth is that when Devers isn\u2019t hitting, he\u2019s one of the worst players in baseball. He doesn\u2019t help on the bases, and his fielding at first base this season has been rougher and less promising than it was last year. He has to hit. He has to make fewer outs than almost everyone around him.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering about Bryce Eldridge, the good news is that he\u2019s hitting .293 with a .396 OBP in Triple A. The bad news is that\u2019s come with 31 strikeouts and two home runs, and his defense is also a work in progress. His slugging percentage is just 20 points above the Pacific Coast League average, as he adjusts to more advanced pitching. It\u2019s probably a good sign that his method of adjustment is to continue getting on base at the expense of power, which you\u2019re absolutely not worried about with Eldridge in the long run. Sacramento is still the place for him. Polish the big feller up before he inherits the full burden of a run-starved team.<\/p>\n

It would be helpful if Devers could not be one of the worst regulars in baseball, though. At least he\u2019s been hitting the ball relatively hard the opposite way lately, which is proof that he\u2019s trying something different with (modest) success. If he\u2019s not hitting baseballs very far and taking walks, he\u2019s not doing much at all.<\/p>\n

Second base \u2014 8th\u00a0(0.4)Luis Arraez \u2014 97 PA
Christian Koss \u2014 7 PA<\/p>\n

Arraez is having a fantastic season, offensively, defensively and in the court of public opinion. He had the one hit on Thursday, which means there\u2019s a decent chance the Giants would have been no-hit by Tyler Glasnow without him. For the first time I can remember, you should be excited about the thought of extending a player with an OPS under .700 (he\u2019s hitting .304\/.340\/.359).<\/p>\n

If the defensive gains hold, Arraez can fit on any roster, any lineup. Every team needs at least one guy who makes the pitchers roll their eyes in annoyance. Here\u2019s a guy.<\/p>\n

Shortstop \u2014 20th\u00a0(-0.1)Willy Adames \u2014 107 PA<\/p>\n

Adames looked like he was on the verge of breaking out, and then the baseball gods dumped a bucket of ice-cold Powerade on him, as they\u2019re wont to do. If you\u2019re worried about this, keep in mind that Adames has, somehow, been one of the most consistent players in baseball, with a WAR between 2.9 and 4.2 in every season since 2019, with the exception of the pandemic season, when he earned 1.8 WAR. \u2026 which was still pretty danged good.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be fine, and you can say this every April about Adames until you can\u2019t. Throughout his entire career, he\u2019s always mixed in enough hot streaks to be reliably valuable. One of these years, that\u2019ll stop, but there\u2019s no specific evidence to suggest it\u2019ll be this year. He\u2019s probably fine.<\/p>\n

Third base \u2014 3rd\u00a0(0.7)Matt Chapman \u2014 105 PA<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say that defense doesn\u2019t slump, but there was a whole lot of slumpy defense from Chapman to start the season. Still, while his ultra-high ranking hints at a thin overall third-base pool, it\u2019s a sign that he\u2019s doing what the Giants are paying him to do, more or less. They\u2019d prefer more dingers, and they\u2019ll likely come as the weather heats up, but for now, this is a position that\u2019s a part of the solution, not the problem.<\/p>\n

Outfield (all) \u2014 29th\u00a0(-1.3)<\/p>\n

Almost half of the Giants\u2019 29th-place finish overall in WAA is due to the outfield\u2019s low ranking. If this has a sense of familiarity you just can\u2019t place, the Giants\u2019 recent outfield history can explain it.<\/p>\n

2025: 18th\u00a0(-1.1 WAA)
2024: 19th\u00a0(-2.2)
2023: 23rd\u00a0(-2.9)
2022: 21st\u00a0(-2.7)<\/p>\n

Not since the halcyon days of 2021 have the Giants had an outfield worth a dang. There was a time before that when Mike Yastrzemski made up for a lot by himself, but overall, the Giants have offered a vast, forever encroaching outfield desert since Barry Bonds left. You might have thought that was over. It was not.<\/p>\n

Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee have done a lot of work recently to get back to the land of the living. Ramos has boosted his OPS nearly .200 points over the last 10 days, and Lee\u2019s has jumped almost .250 points since his season low of .439 on April 8. They might not be trending upward like a rocket, but they\u2019re not historically awful anymore. A player can build on \u201cnot historically awful,\u201d and they\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n

\"Heliot<\/p>\n

\n The Giants\u2019 outfield has really struggled, but Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee have both been on the upswing. (Eakin Howard \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Harrison Bader was one of my picks to click this season based on some early batting practice sessions in Scottsdale, which goes to show you that there\u2019s a reason baseball doesn\u2019t usually exist in February. During the regular season, he had about 50 of the worst plate appearances you\u2019ve ever seen, then disappeared to the IL with a hamstring injury, which you were told to expect. The good news is that you\u2019ve seen the floor, and there\u2019s only one direction to go from here. The bad news is that you\u2019ve seen the floor, and goodness, it is low. So much lower than you thought.<\/p>\n

The full outfield playing-time breakdown by position goes like this:<\/p>\n

LF (23rd, -0.3): Ramos, 90 PA; Will Brennan, 4 PA; Encarnaci\u00f3n, 3 PA; Jared Oliva, 1 PA<\/p>\n

CF (28th, -0.6): Bader, 54 PA; Drew Gilbert, 26 PA; Oliva, 5 PA; Jung Hoo Lee, 5 PA<\/p>\n

RF (21st, -0.4): Lee, 90 PA; Encarnaci\u00f3n, 6 PA<\/p>\n

Aside from Bader, one of the bigger disappointments of the early season has been Encarnaci\u00f3n, who is forever on the cusp of using his outlier tools to produce runs<\/a>, but is rarely producing any actual runs.<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t a lot of players forcing the issue in Triple A, either. Grant McCray\u2019s newfound transformation into a contact-and-patience guy is meeting with some success (.378 OBP) and struggles (.194 BA, .242 SLG). Victor Bericoto\u2019s spring breakout has become much more muted, and we\u2019ve already seen Gilbert and Brennan.<\/p>\n

The Giants have a lot of outfielders playing well in the low minors, which doesn\u2019t help them a lick. As with just about every other position on the team, the only solution is for the underperforming players to stop underperforming. Because if they\u2019re not underperforming, and this is just their new default level of production, the Giants just might be cooked. It\u2019s been the worst part of the team so far, and it can get much better.<\/p>\n

Designated Hitter (29th, -0.6)Schmitt \u2014 48 PA
Devers \u2014 42 PA
Encarnaci\u00f3n \u2014 7 PA
Arraez \u2014 4 PA
Brennan \u2014 3 PA<\/p>\n

Over 4,014 plate appearances in franchise history, Giants designated hitters have a .731 OPS, which is the seventh-worst mark in baseball. I\u2019m not going to take the time to run the numbers without Bonds (1.034 OPS in 172 PA), but I\u2019m sure he\u2019s cooking even these numbers a little bit. The Giants have never had much luck with the DH, either in interleague play or after the rule was universally adopted in the NL.<\/p>\n

The good news is that I\u2019ve checked the rules, and teams can put literally anybody at DH. The Dodgers are using a pitcher to fill their spot, even though that\u2019s the position that\u2019s historically the worst at hitting. (Good luck with that, fellas. \ud83d\ude44\ud83d\ude44\ud83d\ude44). That means this is the spot that\u2019s waiting for someone to get hot, whether it\u2019s Eldridge or Encarnaci\u00f3n or Schmitt again.<\/p>\n

Pinch Hitters (12th, -0.1)Susac \u2014 4 PA
Encarnaci\u00f3n \u2014 4 PA
Ramos \u2014 2 PA
Oliva \u2014 1 PA
Lee \u2014 1 PA
Bader \u2014 1 PA<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t have a bunch of negative value from your pinch-hitters if you don\u2019t use them. Now that\u2019s thinking one step ahead.<\/p>\n

The Giants need to play better. They have been, but there\u2019s still plenty of room for improvement. Right now, the only reason they\u2019re as close to .500 as they are is the bullpen, Arraez and Chapman, all of whom are playing better than their peers at their positions. They\u2019ll need a lot more players to join this group if they\u2019re going to get unstuck, however. The Giants have won two series in a row, and they\u2019ll need all hands on deck to keep it going. Most hands, at least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Thursday, the San Francisco Giants were one-hit for the second time this season, putting them in rare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,5157,85],"class_list":["post-628915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}