5 under the radar SF Giants players off to a good start in 2023

The San Francisco Giants have surprised pretty much everyone this season with how well they are holding their own. While the Dodgers and the Padres generally got most of the attention in the NL West for the flashy moves they constantly were making, the Giants currently find themselves ahead of both of them in the division and just 2.5 games behind the equally surprising Arizona Diamondbacks.

Despite their failed best attempts to attract a big-time talent to San Francisco this past offseason like Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa's physical torpedoing his deal, the Giants have had to make do with a roster filled with guys who don't have a ton of national name recognition.

However, that doesn't mean that the Giants don't have good players. In fact, that is far from the case as you don't have a top 8 position player group and top 3 bullpen in all of baseball without guys who have been playing out of their minds. It is time that we change the narrative around the Giants and highlight the guys that deserve some love.

Here are the under the radar SF Giants players off to a good start in 2023

To be clear, most of these players will be well-known to most Giants fans. Fans that watch the team constantly are just going to be better informed than those from different fan bases or just the casual sports fan. This is about highlighting guys who may not be household names nationally that need some more recognition. Putting Logan Webb on a list like this doesn't make the most sense because he is a known quantity, but there are still plenty of guys who are both good and not on enough people's radars.

Without further adieu, here are five Giants players that you may not know well that are off to great starts in 2023.

Thairo Estrada has been a revelation for the SF Giants

It is just a shame that Thairo Estrada is not getting more recognition for how good he has been in 2023. Through 298 plate appearances this season, Thairo is just outside the top 10 in the National League amongst position players in fWAR thanks to his well rounded game on both sides of the ball.

Are there better defenders than him? Yes, but not a lot of them. Are there better hitters than him? Also yes especially given his low 5% walk rate. However, he does a lot of things very well and his ability to play multiple positions defensively has made him arguably the Giants' MVP this season.

Hopefully he will start getting the recognition he deserves soon as he has a very strong case to make the National League All-Star team this year. Even if that doesn't happen, he will eventually start getting appreciated if he keeps playing like this.

LaMonte Wade Jr. has really broken out this year for the SF Giants

It is not hyperbole to say that the Giants would not be in the position they are in right now with LaMonte Wade Jr. Through his first 72 games, he is slashing .286/.415/.462 with nine homers and his 146+ wRC+ is second on the Giants only to Austin Slater who only has 69 plate appearances this year.

We saw glimpses of this coming in years past. Wade Jr. put together a pretty nice 2021 season where he posted a 116 wRC+ in 381 plate appearances with 18 homers. While he didn't play particularly well in the majors last year, we did see his walk rate continue to creep back up which foreshadowed his elite ability to get on base this season.

LaMonte does a lot of things well at the plate, but it's his walk rate that has allowed him to be a key cog in the Giants' offense. The guy is constantly setting the table and for a team that doesn't have a ton of power, being able to create scoring opportunities over and over again is critically important.