Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Mauricio Dubon can just about leave the coronavirus in the past. He got his second dose of the vaccine this week, which led to his sitting during Friday’s opener in Miami.
“I was in pain,” Dubon conceded, though he added he could have played and is feeling much better.
He would like to leave his frustration at the plate and a lot of unlucky batted balls in the rearview mirror, too.
Entering play Saturday, the Giants’ .240 batting average on balls in play was the third worst in baseball, hinting at either awful luck or soft contact. The latter has not been Dubon’s problem.
After an offseason of bulking up, saying he put on about 12 pounds of muscle, and a solid spring training, the 26-year-old has kept hitting upon the season starting but has little to show for it. His average exit velocity of 87.9 mph is a tick up from last year’s 86.2. If there is an area he might need to address, it’s the fact that more balls are heading south — 43.8 percent of his batted balls are ground balls, up from last year’s 33.6 percent.
The traditional numbers, though, are poor: He is 3-for-21 (.143) with two walks, five strikeouts and without an extra-base hit. According to the way he has put balls in play, Statcast says his expected batting average is .261.
“It’s funny how numbers show: Some guys say, ‘Oh, he’s struggling at the plate.’ I’m actually doing what I want to do,” Dubon said Saturday from Miami. “It’s just after I hit it, I can’t control that. I’ve been hitting the ball right at people, hard. The past couple days I missed a home run just because we’re playing at Oracle Park.
“You can’t control that, and I just got to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m not going to line out the whole year.”
It would be easier to ignore Dubon’s slow start from a results standpoint if the rest of the Giants were hitting, but their 42 runs entering Saturday’s matchup at LoanDepot Park was the fourth least in baseball. If Dubon is not playing center field, then Austin Slater generally is (although Steven Duggar was set to receive his first start of the season Saturday against righty Sandy Alcantara). Slater is batting .194.
If Dubon is not playing shortstop, Brandon Crawford is. Crawford is hitting .146 and is 1-for-16 against lefties, which will bear watching.
The Giants believe their offense, which had and has been expected to be the biggest strength of the club, will come around. It’s a 13-game sample size, but also the only sample size that is available.
Gabe Kapler said he would tell Dubon to just continue doing what he’s doing. He’s been happy with the at-bats and the more discerning eye that Dubon has continued to show. He is a different, more selective player than he was at the start of the 2020 season, even if the 2021 stats don’t reflect that yet.
“Players can’t help but look up at the scoreboard, analyze their stats at an early stage of the season. It’s always been in baseball. I did it myself as a player,” the manager said over Zoom. “We just encourage players to stay with their process and chalk up the small wins along the way.”
Dubon acknowledged there is frustration, even if he believes he will swing his way out of it. The early problem for the Giants is that same frustration is found up and down their lineup.
