San Francisco Giants showing improvement in one key offensive area

In the grand scheme of things, the San Francisco Giants are still not hitting much, with a .231 average and .683 OPS as a team. They have shown marked improvement in one key area, though.

While the overall numbers are still not pretty, things are beginning to trend in the right direction for the San Francisco Giants. They just completed a sweep of the San Diego Padres in which they scored 30 runs in three games.

Since Farhan Zaidi has taken over the Giants baseball operations department, he has emphasized making incremental improvements.

However, the Giants are showing more than just incremental improvement in one key area, and that is situation hitting.

More specifically, the Giants have been better at hitting with runners in scoring position (RISP). Whether or not clutch hitting is an actual skill is a debate for a different day.

In recent seasons, one of the more frustrating aspects of the Giants offensive approach has been their inability to execute in “clutch” situations. They struggled to get on base, then struggled some more getting runners home when they did get on base.

The table below shows the Giants batting average and OPS with RISP since 2014. It demonstrates just how much improvement they have made in this area in 2019.

In terms of situational hitting, the 2018 Giants were really bad. We did not really need anything beyond the eye test to confirm this, but the stats back it up.

This table shows that the 2019 Giants have posted their highest OPS with runners in scoring position since 2015, and a higher RISP OPS than what they posted in 2014 when they won the World Series.

A couple of Zaidi additions stand out as players who are excelling in this area.

In addition to that trip, Donovan Solano (15 PA, .462 BA, 1.005 OPS) and Alex Dickerson (13 PA, .417 BA, 1.462 OPS) have both produced with RISP as well, albeit in a much smaller sample size.

Make no mistake, the San Francisco Giants are still far from an offensive juggernaut.

For much of Bruce Bochy‘s tenure, they have been a team that has done well in executing a move-the-line offense. It’s a simple strategy that involves getting runners into scoring position, then putting the ball in play to give them a chance to score.

That approach has not worked as well in recent seasons, but it’s a strategy that can still be effective. Without any true home run threats, it’s really one of the few ways they can be competitive.

Despite the fact that the Giants currently sport a 39-47 record, they have played better baseball of late. They posted a 14-13 record in June, and remain undefeated in July after three games.

Slowly but surely, they are starting to put some pieces together who can contribute.

Only time will tell whether they can turn this season around. At the very least, the improvements they have demonstrated in RISP hitting have made for a more entertaining on-field product, and it is providing some reason to believe that this offense has a bit more in the tank than previously thought.