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

Raise your hand if you’re shocked by this one. No one? Okay, good, you’ve all been watching Giants baseball this past month.

The Gold Glove shortstop has hit his peak in June, leading the Giants offense with a stunning .326 average, 1.006 OPS, and 9 doubles for good measure over 25 games and 86 at-bats.

He hits in the heart of the order and is the key cog on defense for the club, routinely making difficult plays to help his pitchers get out of one tight jam after another.

In terms of on-base ability, Crawford led the club with 13 walks. Hell, let’s even add on his two stolen bases, which is tied for the club lead in June. There’s not much more you can ask of your starting shortstop.

After a brutal start to the season in April, Crawford has become a godsend for this lineup. While his smooth left-handed swing will never lead to 30 home runs, he is a consistent force in the middle of the lineup and is a threat against both righties and lefties.

And make sure you have voted for Crawford to be the starting shortstop in the All-Star Game in just a few a weeks!

Honorable Mentions: RF Andrew McCutchen (.850 OPS, 6 HR, 17 RBI), CF Gorkys Hernandez (.796 OPS, 4 HR, 14 RBI)

Cutch led the team with 6 long balls, 33 hits, 17 RBIs and 19 runs scored over the month. He also is the only hitter to play every June game for the Giants. However, he did strikeout 27 times, while walking just 6 times.

Gorkys also struck out 27 times and walked only 9 times in June, but he’s commandeered the starting center field job and put a much-needed spark into that position in the lineup. He’s also arguably become my favorite center fielder to watch since 2010 Andres Torres, so yeah I’ll talk about him when I can.

Despite being second on the team in June with 90 at-bats, Panik posted a pretty abysmal .671 OPS. He has hit to the tune of a .233 average and only had 8 extra base hits over the month, which led to a measly .344 SLG.

I think it’s fair to assume the second baseman is still dealing with some kinks or shaking off some rust from the left thumb injury he suffered at the end of May. A thumb injury can zap a lot of bat speed and resulting power from the hitter, so there stands to be plenty of room for improvement in that department.

He was basically activated May 31st from the injury and has played in every game but three since, so some growing pains should have been expected.

After notching 6 hits in his first three games of the month, he went on to get just 4 hits in his next ten games. However afterward, he seems to be consistently reaching base at a better clip, and even ended the month with his first home run since his return from the DL.

On another bright note, Panik’s eye seems to be as good as it has ever been. He has an elite 7:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio, resulting in a floor that is plenty high for a hitter in his role.

Honorable Mentions: 1B Brandon Belt (.682 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI), OF Mac Williamson (.509 OPS, 1 HR, 3 RBI)

I feel bad putting both of these guys up here because they both had to deal with injuries and barely crossed the 50 at bat threshold. Belt did post just a .682 OPS with a .226 AVG and only 2 home runs, but he seems to certainly be rounding into form as we head into July.

Williamson, on the other hand, was so ineffective coming back from his concussion that he now finds himself back in Sacramento trying to find his swing. He was a breath of fresh air earlier in the season though, so I’m hoping he makes his way back at some point to give this lineup some more thump.

The return of the Giants ace corresponded directly with their best pitching month of the season. Coincidence? I think not.

The team pitched to a collective 2.70 ERA this month, which is certainly the driving factor in the team’s 18-10 month.

Despite coming back from his hand injury, Bumgarner has pitched 32.1 innings, to a 2.51 ERA with just a 1.02 WHIP. This means that despite the strikeout numbers not being quite there yet (6.96 K/9), he has excelled at keeping runners off the bases.

He did seem to struggle slightly with his control and is subsequently tied with Derek Holland for giving up the most walks this month with 9. However, his stuff coming back from injury has been fantastic, and he’s allowed only 24 hits in those 32+ innings.

The movement on his pitches seems to be back though, and he’s mixing in his curveball and changeup for roughly 15% of his pitches – more than he did last year.

Meanwhile, he’s still looking for his first hit of the season, but he continues to do his job on the mound as good as any other pitcher in the major leagues.

As he gets further away from his injury, it’s only reasonable to expect him to get even better, right? This stretch run should be exciting.

Honorable Mentions: LHP Tony Watson (0.00 ERA, 0.41 WHIP, 13 K), LHP Andy Suarez (2.62 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 29 K)

There could be any number of options here, as Will Smith, Derek Holland and even Ty Blach all had great months.

Watson simply didn’t allow a single run this past month and has continued to be a lights-out stalwart for the back of the pen. Meanwhile, Suarez led the staff in innings pitched and continued to improve in his 6 June starts. He also issued the fewest walks of any starter.

I would love to give this to Hunter Strickland for uncontrollably smashing his hand in rage, but he appeared in 9 games and fell just short of the threshold.

Dyson is the best option here simply because there is a lack of other suitable options. Every other qualified pitcher, starter or reliever, on the Giants had a 3.60 ERA or better making it tough to give any of them this distinction.

The first choice to replace Strickland after he broke his hand, Dyson has gotten 3 saves this month but seems to have been demoted from the primary closer option to being apart of a closer-by-committee with Will Smith among potential others.

However, a handful of poor appearances anoints him the distinct honor of worst pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in June.

He blew two save opportunities en route to a brutal 5.11 ERA over 12.1 innings in 14 appearances, but his peripheral numbers still look good. He struck out a solid 12 batters and issued just 3 walks in those appearances.

He did give up 2 long balls in the 12.1 innings, which seem to be the primary reason for his bloated ERA this past month. Homers can be fluky, especially for relievers, so I wouldn’t worry about this becoming a reoccurring theme for the righty, as he sports a career 0.7 HR/9.

Honorable Mention: None?

Like I said, the pitching staff was really, really good this month. You don’t just waltz into a 2.70 ERA with one or two good pitchers – everyone’s got to pull their weight.

Next: San Francisco Giants Make Big Splash with Marco Luciano

Or, in the case of Cory Gearrin, you just don’t have to be put into the game (he pitched just 5 innings in June).