SF Giants: 5 biggest disappointments of 2022

SF Giants: 5 biggest disappointments of 2022

No. 4: LaMonte Wade Jr.

LaMonte Wade Jr. seemed to be yet another Farhan Zaidi diamond-in-the-rough find in 2021. He came out of nowhere and became one of the Giants most reliable clutch bats by the end of the season. Many Giants fans were hoping they had found a corner-outfielder of the future.

2022 has been much tougher for Wade. He has dealt with numerous injuries throughout the year which has prevented him from finding a real rhythm at the plate. This has resulted in some pretty dismal numbers at the plate as he is hitting .177/.278/.388 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI.

Thankfully, Joc Pederson and Luis Gonzalez have been able to produce pretty nicely at the plate in Wade's absence. Yet, one cannot help but wonder how a healthy Wade building upon a breakout 2021 could have impacted the Giants.

Wade's struggles could also possibly be attributed to opposing teams figuring out weaknesses in his approach that they were largely unable to crack in 2021. Combine that with the injury woes and you get a disappointing year.

The Giants will have to decide if they think Wade will look more like the 2022 or 2021 version of himself going forward. After such a rough year, they will likely be evaluating where they stand at every position which makes Wade's future with the team somewhat uncertain.

Perhaps he can turn things around in the last month and give the team reason to believe that his struggles this year were a fluke.