Controversial SF Giants hitting coach defends himself as he may be on the hot seat

The SF Giants coaching staff has taken a lot of heat as of late with manager Bob Melvin bearing the brunt of it. However, controversial hitting coach Pat Burrell has found a way to remain positive despite his job potentially being on the line.

Burrell has been controversial simply because of how bad San Francisco's offense has been for most of the year. He will always be beloved in the Bay Area for the role he played on the 2010 World Series team, but whoever the hitting coach is on a team with a bad offense is naturally going to draw criticism whether fully deserved or not.

SF Giants hitting coach Pat Burrell defends himself while being on hot seat

In an interview with John Shea of the San Francisco Standard, Burrell still sounded positive when discussing the team's lineup. Of course, he really has no other choice than to remain positive but it becomes harder and harder when the team struggles and Rafael Devers keeps on striking out.

In a recent radio appearance on KNBR, Burrell was similarly positive and defended himself by likening the team's offensive struggles to the championship teams of last decade: "You know, we're trying to win based on pitching and defense and timely hitting. And, you know, you look back at '10, '12 and '14, those teams, you know, those teams didn't slug...And that's a recipe that works here, you know. And so, look, it's a tough place to score runs, right?”

Some fans will assuredly roll their eyes at Burrell's words even though there is a lot of truth in it. He is right that the Giants never had a juggernaut of an offense during the championship years and Oracle Park has always been a tough park to hit in.

However, that is not going to stop some segments of the fanbase from calling for him, and the rest of the coaching staff, to be fired with the team consistently struggling to score runs. Burrell himself has said that fans have a right to be upset with the team's inability to score runs.

Being a hitting coach is one of the toughest jobs in baseball because it is utterly thankless and almost never comes with any praise if the bats are hot while they receive a lot of blame when the offense is cold.

Ultimately, it comes down to the players on the field producing and there is a limit to the influence that a hitting coach can have.

Still, president of baseball operations Buster Posey is surely evaluating everything in light of this disappointing season. That could mean he will consider making a change at hitting coach this offseason even though he and Burrell were once teammates.

More from Around the Foghorn: