SF Giants recent production in key spots magnifies offensive woes

The SF Giants were one of the best teams with runners in scoring position earlier in the year. However, that pendulum has shifted wildly in the other direction. Since June 1, no team has performed worse with runners in scoring position, and by a comfortable margin.

SF Giants recent production in key spots magnifies offensive woes

In Friday's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Giants had plenty of runners reach base. They tallied 11 hits, but were held hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Unfortunately, that has been far too common lately. The lineup has now been at full strength for a few games, so it may take some time to hit its stride. With the addition of Rafael Devers and return of Matt Chapman, the Giants were hoping that would alleviate some offensive struggles.

That has not been the case at all, as Devers has just a .655 OPS in 117 plate appearances since joining San Francisco. On the other hand, Chapman has just six hits in 39 at-bats since returning from the injured list.

Since June 1, the Giants are hitting .199/.279/.334 (68 wRC+) with runners in scoring position. The batting average, on-base percentage, OPS, and wRC+ are all last in baseball during that stretch. The slugging percentage is the third-worst mark. Only the San Diego Padres (.329 slugging percentage) and Chicago White Sox (.315 slugging percentage) have been worse in that category.

This is in sharp contrast to how the Giants performed earlier in the year. They posted a .772 OPS with runners in scoring position, which was the sixth-best mark in baseball through May 31. Jung Hoo Lee, Wilmer Flores, and Mike Yastrzemski led the charge in those spots.

Lee has struggled badly since the first month of the year, and Flores does not have an RBI in July. He was on a torrid pace earlier in the year, but that well has dried up lately.

The Giants were hitting better with runners in scoring position earlier in the year than the overall lineup was performing. For one reason or another, they were cashing in on run-scoring chances, even if the lineup sat closer to the middle of the pack.

This does highlight the volatility of production with runners in scoring position. It is one reason why front offices do not normally put much weight in that category because it is not a reliable number.

As a whole, the Giants' offense has struggled badly, but those struggles are magnified when they fail to execute in run-scoring chances. Unfortunately, no team has been worse at that than the Giants lately.