San Francisco Giants: Filling The Void in Left Field
Jose Bautista set the baseball world on fire in 2015 with his legendary bat flip in the ALDS. Before the bat flip, he was more known for what happens before the flip. Monster HRs.
“Joey Bats,” as they call him, experienced a bit of a down season. A down season for him though consists of .234 average, 22 HRs, and 69 RBIs. Granted he only played in 116 games due to injury, he was still a threat every plate appearance.
He posted an OBP of .366, slugged .452, and posted an OPS of .817. He takes pitches and has a very good eye at the plate, contributing to 87 walks on the season.
Most impressive for Bautista is his hitting in the clutch. He hit .290 with runners in scoring position. Even more impressive with runners on third and two outs he hit .333 and had an OPS of 1.250.
The San Francisco Giants have truly never been able to fill Barry Bonds’ void in left field and this would be the move to end that streak. In 2014 he hit 35 HRs and in 2015 he mashed 40 HRs, showing he’s aging very well.
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San Francisco’s questions for this move would be if he is willing to move to left field from his current position at right field, and if he would be affordable should the club ink an elite closer.
Whatever the club does, upgrades need to be made. If the Giants miss out on the elite closer options, expect them to go all-in during pursuits for offensive upgrades in LF. If that happens, expect a pursuit of Cespedes or Bautista for huge bucks.
Don’t get too excited though, Cespedes is purely speculation, and Ian Desmond is the likelier move the San Francisco Giants pursue anyway.
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