The 2018 San Francisco Giants have tried to separate themselves from the 2017 Giants that lost 98 games and struggled throughout the year, but injuries have made that difficult.
The latest injury is a thumb injury to starting left fielder Hunter Pence that he says he suffered on Opening Day and has been dealing with ever since.
This has allowed the Giants to bring up one of their hottest players from Sacramento to their taxi squad, Mac Williamson.
They have struggled to hit, much like in 2017, which has fans clamoring for the hottest bat in Triple-A. Last year, Christian Arroyo was called up around the same time to try to spark the offense. This year, it will be Williamson.
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Williamson completely changed his swing in the off-season, and has been tearing through Spring Training and the start of the regular season for the River Cats.
The Giants had been reluctant to bring up the right handed power hitter because they wanted to see his new swing against stronger pitching than what he saw in Spring.
It increasingly became harder and harder to ignore just how incredible he was doing.
It had us at Around the Foghorn clamoring for his call up all week in multiple articles as the team headed to Arizona.
In just 11 games and 39 at bats, he has six home runs, 16 runs batted in and is hitting to a slash line of .487/.600/1.026 for an astronomical 1.626 OPS.
The Giants were asked what Williamson could bring to the Giants lineup after the latest loss.
"“We’re hoping that he can be a shot in the arm for this offense and provide some production,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s pretty simple. We need some help in that area, but we’ll wait and see what happens tomorrow.”"
The Giants are currently 7-11 and just lost a series to the first place Arizona Diamondbacks where they scored a total of five runs. The Diamondbacks only scored seven, which shows just how close they are to turning their season around if they can start hitting.
Despite a terrible showing in San Diego, where the team lost three of four, the Giants have played good teams tough throughout the year. Their pitching has held up, despite the injuries, and their defense has improved.
On top of that, their bats are slowly coming around. Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt are starting to hit for power and if they can get some production from Williamson in left field, that could be the shot in the arm Bochy is looking for.
The biggest weakness of the Giants lineup last season was their hitters never seem to get hot at the same time. When Buster Posey or Joe Panik would get going, others would struggle. If the Giants truly want to make a run at the Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers and the rest of the National League in 2018, they will have to start hitting in bunches together.
Next: Giants Bats Go Quiet Again
With the return of Mac Williamson to the Major Leagues, it could be music to the ears of all Giants fans.