SF Giants suddenly have a good problem as two core bats find their rhythm

When San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey elected to call up slugger Bryce Eldridge on May 4 to address the team's glaring offensive issues, it was easy to envision two likely future scenarios.

Scenario number one: Eldridge looks dazzling in his first few at-bats while Rafael Devers and/or Willy Adames continue to scuffle, causing manager Tony Vitello to make some tough decisions regarding his veterans.

Scenario number two: Adames and Devers finally break out of their respective slumps, causing Eldridge to take fewer at-bats than expected and therefore leaving the fanbase frustrated.

Spoiler alert: scenario number two has happened so far, and it's actually good news.

Tony Vitello stated ahead of the Giants' 9-3 win over the Dodgers — their third in four matchups against L.A. this season — that Eldridge will mostly be used off the bench in pinch-hitting situations, at least as long as Casey Schmitt performs like one of the team's most productive hitters.

Debates about whether that is the right approach for a top prospect, or whether he would benefit more from everyday at-bats in Sacramento, are legitimate, but that's not what this article is about (this one is).

The "silver lining" about Eldridge not getting daily reps is that it means other players are performing well-enough to keep him on the bench. Two of those players are Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, two cornerstones of this team's future. And after a very rough start to the season, they've finally started to pick it up.

Two key bats are finally heating up

Starting with Adames, who has driven in five runs over his last four games, including a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the 10th inning against the Pirates on Sunday to send the game into the 11th, and a two-out, two-run single against the Dodgers on Monday night that gave the Giants a 6-3 lead in the top of the seventh. Coming through with two outs has been one of the rare things Adames has done consistently this season. He's posted a .731 OPS in those situations, the second-highest mark among regular starters, trailing only Jung Hoo Lee's 1.094 OPS.

His clutch hit against Pittsburgh snapped a 21-game RBI drought that had lasted more than three weeks. Adames' early struggles have been more of a San Francisco occurrence than a career-long pattern. In his three seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, he posted a .780 OPS in 2022, .780 in 2023, and .811 in 2024. His .593 mark this season was just one point above his 2025 mark, his first year in the Bay.

One area of the game Adames still hasn't figured out is how to reach base via walks. His six drawn walks are the fewest by any regular starters on the team and his 3.4% walk rate is by far the lowest of his career, and the lowest in the National League among qualified hitters. His last free pass came on April 30 against the Phillies.

"For me, it's harder when we're losing but when we winning it's easier for me to handle that stuff because I do my work every day and I know that at some point I'm gonna pick it up," Adames said about his recent rut. "I think it's coming along, I think my at-bats have been better the last series and obviously today I felt really good at the plate."

Even when things weren’t going right for Adames, his attitude in the dugout didn’t change. As one of the leaders of this group, no matter his own performance, he has always been the first guy to welcome a teammate back to the dugout after a home run or celebrate a walk-off hit, just like he did against the Pirates on Sunday.

"He really is a team leader for a lot of reasons, and one is just like, when he's vibing, it's impossible not to be in the same mood that he is. He's fun to be around. He's comedic. And then he also wants to win and he kind of has that mojo or vibe going right now and I think other guys kind of fall in line with it," said manager Tony Vitello. "So the swinging of the bat was good but I also appreciate that part of it."

His Powerade showers have become a tradition inside the clubhouse to “cool off” a hitter after a hot showing — but only at home. He was glad that rule existed after his two-hit, three-RBI performance at Dodger Stadium in the series opener, because that showing was most definitely deserving of one.

"We on the road, we good. And you know I don't wanna get that cold shower right now, I'm good," he said in his postgame interview.

On the other side of the infield, Rafael Devers was also due for a hot stretch. His .537 OPS and .207 batting average in April/March were by far the lowest marks of his career. Over his eight-season career, his first-month OPS had never dipped under .700.

One common pattern with Devers is that he usually starts really clicking in May. Five times in his career, he has posted an OPS over .900 in May. And so far, so good this season. Maybe the Eldridge call-up triggered something in him, but he is slashing .364/.436/.758 with a 1.193 OPS, three home runs, seven RBI, and six walks just 10 games into May.

“I think the foul balls, the swinging misses, even the outs have gone from, ‘Man, I’m just a little off from what I normally do,’ to now, even if it’s a foul ball, it looks more like what he normally does," Vitello said about Devers. "He’s seeing the ball the way he normally sees it, and he’s getting his swing off.”

His 401-foot no-doubter to right-center off Roki Sasaki in the second inning of the Giants’ 9-3 win was his third home run in his last five games — one more than he had hit over his first 36 games combined. He has collected a hit in 10 of his last 11 games dating back to the Phillies doubleheader, including three multi-hit games over his last four. Devers might have finally broken out of his slump, and the good results have come along.

Buster Posey and Tony Vitello both pointed out multiple times that in order for this team to string together wins, its veterans needed to start producing. And the numbers have agreed with that statement.

The Giants are now 2-0 when both Adames and Devers drive in at least one run, and 5-0 when both collect at least two hits. Pair that with solid overall offense and a better-than-expected pitching staff, and San Francisco has the ingredients to become the playoff team it has desperately tried to be over the last few years.

The last two games are great examples of that winning formula. The Giants collected double-digit hits in both games. Five players turned in multi-hit performances in both games. At least four players drew a walk in both games. They hit a home run in both games. The bullpen did its job in both games. And guess what? The Giants won both games, their first back-to-back victories since April 25-26 against Miami.

Bryce Eldridge did not contribute much in those two wins. He struck out in the bottom of the 10th against the Pirates, was intentionally walked in the bottom of the 11th, and did not even get an at-bat against the Dodgers, as he was left on deck after Schmitt flied out in the ninth.

"I do think it's a good idea even if it's a random situation, just to try and tally up some at-bats because again I think 'the future is bright' is an understatement and I think anything to do justice by his development is smart," said Vitello about his 6-foot-7 slugger. "But also we're trying to win games, and just like any of those guys we've talked about tonight, he's one guy that can help us win in a variety of ways."

Vitello did announce that Eldridge would be in the lineup on Tuesday night with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for Los Angeles, a pitcher he has faced twice and struck out against both times. Where he will be inserted remains to be determined, but given the stretch Devers is on, Schmitt will probably be the one bumped from the lineup.

After all, maybe the best-case scenario for this team is a mix of both.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow