San Francisco Giants: Is recent offensive surge an aberration?

The San Francisco Giants are on a tear right now offensively with 10+ runs in three straight games. Is it for real, or just an aberration?

The recent offensive surge from the San Francisco Giants has been an absolute joy to watch.

Scoring double-digit runs in three straight games is something many fans would not have dreamed possible at this time a week ago.

Seemingly every hitter in the lineup has caught fire, or at the very least been hitting the ball harder.

As Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle showed, the numbers have been a welcome departure from the team’s season-long struggles at the plate:

It’s been a fun stretch of games, but San Francisco Giants fans are wise enough to know that, in all likelihood, this is not the new normal for the team.

The Giants rank near the bottom of the league in several offensive categories for a reason, and they still have to play their home games in a pitcher-friendly park.

There have been some legitimate reasons for excitement in recent days, but they also come with some reasons for pause.

Austin Slater has torn the cover off the ball since he was called up from Triple-A, going 4-for-8 with two doubles, one triple, one home run, and four RBI in two games. He was hitting .308/.436/.529 with 17 doubles and 12 home runs at Triple-A, so there’s a reason to believe he can make an impact offensively.

Then again, in a year where we have seen Mac Williamson produce immediately after being called up, only to go ice-cold, it would be wise not to jump to any premature conclusions.

Even Evan Longoria‘s incredible two home run performance last night has to be taken with a grain of salt. After all, he’s still batting just .237/.314/.424 with 10 home runs on the season, which still amounts to below-average production with a 96 OPS+.

Perhaps it’s best if the fan base doesn’t worry about what the last few days mean for the offense going forward. The wise move might be to simply enjoy the last three games for what they were; entertaining.

In a season that has been largely lacking in excitement and entertainment value, that’s saying something.

After all, getting to see Pablo Sandoval smile like a jack-o-lantern two nights in a row when a guy returns to the dugout after hitting a home run is infectious, no matter how bad of a mood you are in.

We all know that this is not the new norm for the team offensively, but it’s nice to now they can still sprinkle in a few offensive shows of force amongst the mediocrity.