San Francisco Giants offense suddenly among best in baseball

An offensive surge has driven the San Francisco Giants recent run of success. Statistically, they’ve been one of the most potent offenses in baseball of late.

The San Francisco Giants have not just looked like a competent team of late, they’re looking like a legitimate playoff-caliber team.

Since the beginning of July, the Giants lead the league in runs scored by a wide margin. Their 105 runs are well above the second-highest total of 79, which belongs to the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels. The Pittsburgh Pirates are the second-highest NL team with 74 runs scored during that span.

They also lead the majors in a handful of other offensive categories since July 1, including runs per game (8.1), batting average (.304), slugging percentage (.551), OPS (.910), extra-base hits (63) and home run (27).

That’s especially notable given their awful start to the season offensively. At the end of June, they were 25th in the majors in runs scored.

Their hot bats have sparked an 11-2 month of July, which has pulled the from 12 games under .500 and last place in the NL West, to a 47-49 record and third place.

With Wednesday’s 11-8 victory they completed a four-game sweep of the division-rival Colorado Rockies, plating 40 runs in four games, including a 19-run outburst in Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader.

The offensive turnaround can be largely attributed to a few key players.

Alex Dickerson continues to rake since taking on a starting role. His .448 batting average this month ranks third among players with at least 30 plate appearances.

Evan Longoria has turned back the clock as well, looking like his former All-star self for the first time in a Giants uniform. He’s hitting .400 with six homers in his last nine games. Unfortunately, the third baseman just landed on the IL with a foot injury, and he will likely be out for at least a month.

Brandon Crawford, who was hitting just .223 with 27 RBIs before July, has completed turned the corner, batting .364 with a team-high 13 RBI this month.

The abrupt sudden turnaround, not only for these players but the entire team, is likely not sustainable, at least not at this level. At the same time, scoring more than 100 runs in 13 games is no small feat, and it can’t be completely dismissed.

We’ll see in the coming weeks how the offense fares without Longoria’s hot bat, and if guys like Dickerson, Crawford and Donovan Solano can maintain their current level of play.

For now, we can enjoy the fact the San Francisco Giants are just a handful of games out of a wild-card card spot in a season that was supposed to be a lost one, and that this July has been historically great thus far.