Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
There is a lot of complimenting going on around the Giants’ offense.
“The hitting coaches that have come in here have been great,” Brandon Crawford said after the Giants’ 23-run explosion Tuesday.
“The players deserve a ton of credit for the work that they’re doing,” Gabe Kapler said Wednesday. “Our coaches will always be there as a support system for our players, and our coaches have done a great job of creating that support system, and in this case our hitting coaches have done a great job of creating that support system. The players have done a tremendous amount of work.”
Crawford, too, shouted out the advanced scouting reports that help the batters break down pitchers.
“We also get excellent support from our analysts,” Kapler said. “And I really do think that it’s an organizational effort that includes the players and is led by our hitting coaches.”
It’s hard to zero in on exactly what is going right for the Giants’ offense, but perhaps that makes sense if the answer is everything.
The Giants’ offense ranked 28th in baseball last year in runs scored. Under the tutelage of Donnie Ecker, Justin Viele and Dustin Lind, the group is now ranked third. They lead the majors in hits. They have hit lefties well all year, their .805 OPS against southpaws the eighth best in baseball. They had been slower to attack righties, Alex Dickerson slumping in the first half and the Giants unable to find a third consistent lefty-hitting outfielder. Yet bruising Colorado righty Jon Gray and any reliever the Rockies threw at them bumped their OPS against righties to .766, the 10th best in baseball.
Suddenly, there is more talk about the players the Giants aren’t fitting into the lineup rather than the ones who are. Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, who went a combined 6-for-9 with six runs scored and six RBIs Tuesday, both are sitting in Wednesday’s matinee against lefty Kyle Freeland. Both have been playing plenty, and the Giants wanted to give newcomer Daniel Robertson a look at shortstop, while Wilmer Flores is playing first and Darin Ruf at DH.
Dickerson, fresh off a three-homer, two-double night — he had five combined homers and doubles in his first 30 games this year — will start against a lefty for the first time this year, entering with just four at-bats against southpaws.
“I don’t think he could be any more confident in the batter’s box right now,” Kapler said.
The confidence is dripping from a group that has bought in and put in the work. The Giants host daily game-planning meetings rather than just at the start of series. Kapler said the players are just as vocal in those meetings as the coaches, a team practically obsessed with collective efforts proving that everything is working.
The Giants’ offense has taken flight while Mike Yastrzemski (.182/.308/.364 in his past nine games), Donovan Solano (.224/.283/.347 in his past 14) and Flores (.152/.200/.333 in his past nine) have scuffled. Their other first-half star, Austin Slater, is expected back this weekend, which will create more of the playing-time problems the Giants want to have.
As some bats cool, others, such as Dickerson, Evan Longoria, Belt and Crawford, have come around. There have been inexperienced discoveries (Yastrzemski, Slater) and bounce-backs from veterans some thought were finished after last year.
“I just think the process is really strong,” Kapler said about the top-to-bottom hitting team, which is not built upon a star but rather an operation, which suggests it has lasting power.