SF Giants manager Bob Melvin makes much-needed lineup change on Sunday

SF Giants Bob Melvin made a notable change to the lineup on Sunday. Jung Hoo Lee was back at the leadoff spot in what felt like an overdue adjustment.

SF Giants manager Bob Melvin makes much-needed lineup change on Sunday

The last time Lee had been in the leadoff spot was on July 27 in a 5-3 loss to the New York Mets at home. The Giants have lost a lot at home lately.

Heliot Ramos had been the club's primary leadoff hitter for the past six weeks, and the reasoning made sense. He had been one of the team's better hitters, so the goal was to maximize potential favorable outcomes.

I do not put too much weight into the lineup, so long as the better hitters are hitting higher. Whether a hitter should be batting first or third is not all that important.

With lineup changes, I think it is important for managers to balance it in a way that rewards performance, but is not too reactive to a slump. In this case, Bob Melvin likely could have made the change sooner since Jung Hoo Lee has been one of the better hitters in the lineup while Heliot Ramos has struggled.

On July 5, Ramos clubbed his 14th home run of the season. It looked like he would exceed the 20-homer threshold with ease. Since then, he is hitting just ,245/.310/.273 (69 wRC+) with zero home runs, five RBI, and 14 runs in 155 plate appearances.

The right-handed bat continues to make hard contact, but the barrel rate is at 3.7 percent, down from 11.6 percent earlier in the year. The barrel rate has declined, and so have the power numbers.

On the other hand, Jung Hoo Lee has been one of the best Giants hitters lately. He went through a prolonged slump in the middle of the year. However, he has rebounded. The left-handed bat has put up an .891 OPS with six extra-base hits in 59 plate appearances this month. Lee tallied one hit in four at-bats in Sunday's 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

In Monday's game, Ramos was tabbed as the leadoff hitter with southpaw pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. on the mound. However, the lineup change on Sunday could be a sign of things to come for Lee when the Giants face off against right-handed starters.

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