Former SF Giants first baseman still struggling after being traded to new team

The SF Giants moved on from LaMonte Wade Jr. last month by trading him to the Los Angeles Angels. While the hope was a change of scenery would spur better results, Wade has continued to struggle with his new team.

Thus far in 14 games with Los Angeles, Wade is slashing .152/.263/.152 with no home runs and no runs batted in. This is even worse than the .167/.275/.271 slash line he sported with San Francisco this season before the team designated him for assignment and subsequently traded him.

Former SF Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr.'s struggles continue

It is a shame to see Wade struggle like this since he was a really good Giant and had some truly memorable moments in the orange and black. As recently as last season he was a productive player for San Francisco, slashing .260/.380/.381 with a WAR of 2.1 in 117 games played.

His bat has just seemed to completely abandon him this season. It is still early in his tenure with the Angels, but if he cannot figure things out it may not be long before Los Angeles moves on from him as well.

Even though Wade's struggles began early this season, the Giants really did try to give him an opportunity to work through things. He went through stretches where he was hitting the ball hard but the ball seemed to find a glove every time. The results just were not there and the team could not justify keeping him on the roster with how bad their offense was going.

Since moving on from Wade the Giants have gotten a little more production at first base. Dominic Smith has cooled off after his hot start at the plate, but his defense has still been impressive over at first. Wilmer Flores has also been solid at first and what he brings to the table offensively obviously far exceeds what Wade was bringing.

The addition of Rafael Devers was certainly a big upgrade at first base since he has said he is willing to play there and the Giants have already gotten him some reps there. A groin injury has prevented Devers from playing in the field so far, but he obviously provides thump for the team and is a marked improvement over Wade.

Nonetheless, it is unfortunate to see Wade continue to struggle with his new team. Let's hope he can turn things around and get his career back on track because he seems like a good guy and he represented the Giants well while he was with the team.