SF Giants are looking like the championship years by excelling in this key stat

The SF Giants are 7-1 and off to their best start since the 2003 season. Many things have fueled this hot start, but perhaps the most important one has been their penchant for coming through in the clutch at the plate.

San Francisco is currently second-best in all of baseball with a batting average of .353 with runners in scoring position and two outs. They trail only the Minnesota Twins who have a .379 batting average in those situations.

Clutch hitting has fueled hot start to season for SF Giants

When people say the identity of the Giants is strong pitching, strong defense, and timely hitting, this is what they mean by timely hitting. Coming through in the clutch and driving in runs with two outs is huge not only because you’re getting on the scoreboard, but it can also be demoralizing for your opponent because they know they are just one pitch away from getting out of a jam but instead the Giants have been coming through in those clutch spots.

The Giants teams that won championships in the 2010’s came through in the clutch. None of those teams were an offensive juggernaut, but they had strong pitching, strong defense, and did just enough on offense to get wins. President of baseball operations Buster Posey seems to be trying to replicate that formula and so far it has been to great effect. 

The bottom of the 4th inning in Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners was the quintessential example of how the Giants are trying to operate on offense in Oracle Park. With one out and the bases empty, Jung Hoo Lee doubled for the team’s first hit of the game. Lee then stole third base before Matt Chapman drove him in on a double. Heliot Ramos came up next and delivered a productive out with a ground ball to the right side of the infield that moved Chapman over to third. Then, Mike Yastrzemski came up clutch in that situation with two outs and a runner in scoring position, delivering a bloop single into right field that scored Chapman.

Doing those small things, like Ramos moving Chapman over to third, is so huge for a team like the Giants. They are built to play a lot of tight, low-scoring contests so excelling at situational hitting is a huge key for them and something they have been great at so far.

It is obviously still early in the season and there are inevitably going to be times this year when the Giants struggle to get that money hit. But for the time being they have been coming up with the goods in clutch situations which is a very good sign early on and is a big reason for the team’s early success.