San Francisco Giants: 5 Players Who Need to Step Up in the Second Half

Andrew McCutchen has been the most inconsistent player for the Giants this year. It seems like he gets hot for a week and looks like he’s turned a corner, then slumps for three weeks. But for someone as talented as he is, in a walk year, I simply expected more.

A .261 average and .764 OPS is not what envisioned for Cutch. I expected somewhere between .280 and .300 and at least an .800+ OPS. His walk rate has actually been fine, but his K % has just not been good enough. The Giants have got to get him going at a consistent rate for their offense to click more. If he can find some consistency in the second half, the Giants will be quite happy about their playoff push.

McCutchen’s defense has actually been really nice. He has an even DRS for the Giants this year, and he has more outfield assists than most of the outfield has last season combined. His arm has done a nice job of keeping things close, and his ability to make difficult plays has paid off. Inside Edge fielding via Fangraphs, says he has made 8 catches on plays that are considered a remote chance of being an out, which is a less than 10% catch probability. That’s nice to have someone who can rob sure hits of falling in.

McCutchen has the ability to carry teams to the postseason, as does multiple other players on the roster. With all of their abilities combined, this team should be fine. But most haven’t performed at the level many have hoped or expected. As I said, McCutchen has been fine, just not consistent enough. He’s a player that, with his pedigree, absolutely needs to ratchet it up a notch in the second half if the Giants are going to make that postseason push.