The San Francisco Giants are shapeshifters. Their lineups change by the day — and sometimes by the inning — to best attack the opposing team’s pitcher.
The Giants have used 145 different batting orders this season. They used one lineup five times — that’s their most common lineup this season.
This is not a lineup that is supposed to be anchored by any particular hitter. Taking a nod from their new(ish) neighbors to the south, the Warriors, this is a Strength in Numbers approach.
At least it was supposed to be.
With Brandon Belt out, likely for the remainder of the season with a broken hand, it’s becoming more apparent that he was holding the Giants’ lineup together as of late.
San Francisco’s home run leader had been the best first baseman in the game since the All-Star break, posting a 1.085 OPS in 42 games. That seems like an anchor to me.
But he’s not coming back.
So the Giants need two hitters who have often flanked him in the lineup — Kris Bryant and Evan Longoria — to play better.
Much better.
The Giants only need to win one more series — two of three against the Padres — to claim the team’s first National League West title since 2012. But so long as Bryant and Longoria continue their cold streaks, that fate is in jeopardy.
It’s one thing for the Giants to only have hit one home run since Belt’s exit — yes, they were playing the Diamondbacks, but three games is a small sample size. It’s a whole other thing when two of the hitters in the heart of the Giants’ order look completely lost at the plate.
In his last 25 at-bats, Bryant has three hits. Over the same stretch as those at-bats, he has six strikeouts to one walk. In all, he’s posted an OPS of .299.
To be clear: that’s not his on-base percentage. That’s his on-base percentage plus his slugging percentage.
Yikes.
Bryant has a career .880 OPS. He has an OPS of .833 this season, his walk year. He might be swinging and missing at the massive payday that seemed certain for the one-time National League MVP not long ago.
It should also be noted that Bryant’s glove has been far below acceptable in the outfield over this same stretch. His defensive play has been so detrimental to the Giants as of late that it might be advisable to move him to first base full-time. But doing that would take a better bat out of the lineup. Gabe Kapler is still having to earn that Manager of the Year award he’ll receive in the offseason.
If it was only Bryant struggling, the Giants wouldn’t be in a bind. But Longoria’s concurrent struggles have created an easy half-inning for opposing pitchers facing what is supposed to be the meat of the Giants’ batting order.
Yes, even for Padres pitchers. The Diamondbacks had no problem, after all.
In his last seven games — 24 at-bats — Longoria only has two hits and one walk. His OPS is .245. He’s clearly scarred from five called strikes that were well off the plate outside in his last three games, too. Now he’s chasing — something that he didn’t do all season and was a key to his tremendous success on the macro.
It simply won’t do.
Not if the Giants want to win the division over a Dodgers team that one must presume will not lose another game.
Not if they want to make their stay in the playoffs longer than a few days.
The loss of Belt was big, but Bryant and Longoria’s struggles are making it as large as the 438 million they’re making combined.
The Giants are counting on them — one of their best hitters and their big deadline acquisition — to come through before it’s too late.