San Francisco Giants: Best and Worst Hitters and Pitchers of June

June was a highly successful month for the San Francisco Giants as they went 18-10 and went from four games under .500 to four games over .500.

This record helped the San Francisco Giants keep pace in the division and make up serious ground in the National League Wild Card race.

They started the month 3.0 games out of the division lead and 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. Now, they head into July still only 3.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West and just 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot.

They’re well positioned to make a strong push going into the All-Star break, but have to get past tough competition in the form of the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics to do so.

Great pitching and timely hitting highlighted a June in which the Giants lost key contributors Evan Longoria and Hunter Strickland, yet managed to keep themselves in the race for the up for grabs division.

Let’s examine who the best and worst performers of the month were on both sides of the diamond.

For hitters to qualify, I’m looking for a minimum of 50 at-bats. In terms of pitchers, I want to make sure a starter has made 4 starts or a reliever has made 10 appearances.

This would eliminate Austin Jackson, Hunter Pence and Cory Gearrin from consideration, players who have drawn the ire of Giants fans this season but haven’t really had the volume of at-bats or innings to make a significant impact in aggregate on the Giants in June.