San Francisco Giants: Best offensive teams of the past decade

While recent memory has been defined by the San Francisco Giants inability to hit, the team has actually had some pretty good offenses over the past decade. Our goal: Highlight the top three.

To call a spade a spade, the 2019 San Francisco Giants struggle to hit the baseball.

That’s not to say the 2017 and 2018 teams fared much better, but the 2019 Giants have looked particularly helpless at times offensively. The recent addition of Kevin Pillar has provided a spark, but the Giants still have a long way to go before their offense is even league-average.

OPS+ is a park-adjusted offensive metric used to gauge a player or team’s production relative to the league average. A 100 OPS+ represents average production.

Entering play on Wednesday, the Giants had a team OPS+ of 54, which was 29th in the majors.

One of Farhan Zaidi’s biggest areas of focus was adding guys who could get on base. The Giants, as a team, rank 29th  in walks (26) and 30th in on-base percentage (.264).

The Giants have also hit just eight home runs as a team. Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger has seven home runs by himself.

It hasn’t always been this way.

Thankfully, I am old enough to remember when the Giants could swing the bats a little. So let’s take a trip down memory lane and relive the good times!

While recent memory has been defined by the team’s inability to hit, the Giants actually had some solid lineups during the 2010s. Ahead we’ve highlighted the top three.

No. 3: 2015 San Francisco Giants

Starters

C Buster Posey
1B Brandon Belt
2B Joe Panik
3B Matt Duffy
SS Brandon Crawford
LF Nori Aoki
CF Angel Pagan
RF Hunter Pence

Key Bench Players

C Andrew Susac
2B Kelby Tomlinson
OF Gregor Blanco

In their third title defense in five years, the 2015 Giants failed to make the postseason, winning 84 games. However, their Pythagorean win-loss record was five games better than their actual record, meaning they lost a little of that even year magic.

When healthy, the offense was actually quite good. Unfortunately, several key players saw their seasons cut short by injury. In particular, Nori Aoki (93 G) and Hunter Pence (52 G)—the Opening Day corner outfielders—both missed extended time.

Center fielder Angel Pagan (75 OPS+) was the only starter with an OPS+ below 100, and the team finished with a 101 OPS+ that was tied for sixth in the majors.

Put another way, the offense in 2015 was almost twice as good as the 2019 team.

Buster Posey led the way, hitting .318/.379/.470 with 19 home runs and a team-high 95 RBI. That strong performance coincided with breakout seasons from middle infielders Brandon Crawford (113 OPS+, 21 HR) and Joe Panik (129 OPS+, 8 HR).

Madison Bumgarner also did some damage with a league-average 100 OPS+ in 81 plate appearances. His five home runs were tied for ninth on the team and were more than Angel Pagan hit in 551 plate appearances.

Sadly, this season proved to be the beginning of the end for the Giants. There was a glimmer of even year magic in 2016, but it’s been downhill ever since.

No. 1: 2010 San Francisco Giants

Starters

C Buster Posey
1B Aubrey Huff
2B Freddy Sanchez
3B Pablo Sandoval
SS Juan Uribe
LF Pat Burrell
CF Andres Torres
RF Nate Schierholtz

Key Bench Players

C Bengie Molina
1B Travis Ishikawa
SS Edgar Renteria
OF Aaron Rowand
OF Cody Ross

The 2010 season was the beginning of a dynasty.

Homegrown pieces like 23-year-old Buster Posey, 23-year-old Pablo Sandoval and 20-year-old Madison Bumgarner all emerged as key contributors, while the roster also had a good collection of veteran talent.

That all culminated in the team’s first playoff appearance since 2003 and the first championship by the Bay, and the offense played a major role.

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There were just 35 players during the 2010 season who made at least 400 plate appearances and had an OPS+ over 130. The Giants had two of them—Aubrey Huff (142) and Buster Posey (133).

Huff led the team with 26 home runs and 86 RBI after joining the Giants on a one-year, $3 million deal in free agency. Posey won NL Rookie of the Year by hitting .305/.357/.505 with 18 home runs and 67 RBI in 108 games. Shortstop Juan Uribe chipped in 24 home runs and 85 RBI.

This team also provided a renaissance for several journeyman outfielders.

Andres Torres had 67 extra-base hits and 26 steals, Cody Ross caught fire down the stretch and won NLCS MVP after he was claimed off waivers in August, and Pat Burrell posted a 136 OPS+ with 18 home runs in 96 games after he was cut loose by the Tampa Bay Rays in May.

The 2010 season was truly an incredible year, and I get a little misty just thinking about it. The team had great pitching, but the offense was an equally important ingredient in the success of a team that became an even-year powerhouse.