Unorthodox SF Giants leadoff experiment looks like it’s here to stay

Given the way the SF Giants’ offense opened the season — scoring just one run and collecting just 13 hits across a three-game series against the New York Yankees — something had to change, and quickly. The Giants entered Tuesday night's game owning the league’s lowest batting average (.154), along with the fewest hits (19) and runs (4). They were basically hacking at every decent-looking pitch they saw, posting a 49.9% swing rate — the third-highest mark in MLB during that stretch.

Newly hired manager Tony Vitello responded to that atrocious offensive stretch by shuffling the lineup. His major shake-up was to slot shortstop Willy Adames in at leadoff, a spot in the order the 30-year-old shortstop isn’t accustomed to. So far so good: the Giants are 2-0 since the switch — one that could last longer than expected given the early returns.

SF Giants may have found something with Adames atop the order

Tuesday night marked just the fifth game Adames played as the leadoff man, his third in a Giants uniform. In those five games, he’s gone 9-for-18 (.500) with two home runs, including the one in last season’s finale that made him the first Giant since Barry Bonds in 2004 to hit 30 homers in a season.

Despite the sample size being teeny-tiny (just four games, relax), Adames appeared to be off to a start similar to his first season with the Giants, when he hit just .210 with a .636 OPS through the first three months. So after he managed just two hits in his first 15 at-bats (.133) while striking out six times to open his 2026 campaign, we had every right to be concerned.

But on Tuesday, he put all of our doubts to rest (at least mine), as he played a major role in the Giants' 9-3 win over the Padres. He finished with two singles, a double and a home run he just snuck over the left-field fence on the second pitch of the game. He also recorded his first two RBIs of the season in the process and — for the first time this year — didn't strike out.

The stage felt set for Adames to have a big night at Petco Park, largely because of the matchup. In his career, Adames had posted a .667/.625/2.167 slash line against Germán Márquez entering the game. Following Tuesday night's game, Adames has now gone deep in four of his last eight at-bats against the former Colorado Rockies pitcher.

Adames set the tone as the offense finally clicked

As he mentioned in his postgame presser, hitting a home run in the team’s first at-bat definitely set the tone for the rest of the lineup. It doesn't have to be a home run every game, but if Adames can find a way to get on base and inject early momentum into this lineup on a regular basis, this offense can be tough to contain.

Here’s the damage he's done so far in game-opening at-bats as the Giants’ leadoff hitter: homered against the Rockies in last season's finale, singled against the Padres on Monday, and homered against that same Padres team on Tuesday.

In Game 2 of the series, the Giants displayed the potential of that offense. After collecting just 19 hits and four runs over the team’s first four games, they took their frustration out on the Padres’ pitching staff. Every hitter in the lineup recorded at least one hit, while four players turned in multi-hit performances as part of a 16-hit outburst.

Willy Adames and the Giants will attempt to match that level of production in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon with a chance to complete their first sweep of the season — and their first sweep of the Padres at Petco Park since July 2019 — before heading back to the Bay to host a four-game series against the New York Mets.