Bescause they can't score any runs. They have a player in Brandon Belt who could give them an offensive boost similar to what Buster Posey gave them last year. Coming into the year, Belt was their top prospect, and started the year in the majors. He was sent down to the minors after struggling in 57 at bats. His BABIP was under .240, so he was getting unlucky, but he was taking walks, and probably would have come into his own if he would have been given the playing time. The real problem was that the Giants have Aubrey Huff, who is blocking Belt at first base. The Giants have tried to but both in the outfield, but neither has really worked out well out there.
Huff is 33 years old, and had a career year last year, and hit .290 with good power. Before 2010, Huff looked like a declining player with not much left in the tank. After 2010 year, the Giants gave huff a two year contract with a team option for a third year. Huff will earn $10 per year for the length of this contract. He has been terrible this year, batting under .250 with an on base percentage around .300. The Giants are paying him too much in their mind to not play him. They should have never given him this contract knowing that he was an aging, declining player, who was coming off a fluke year. Especially when their best prospect is MLB ready and plays the same position.
There is still time for Belt to make it to the majors in time to make an impact with the club thought. Their playoff hero Cody Ross was acquired last year off waivers from the Marlins on August 22.
Their pitching staff is top notch, but their position players are completely out of whack. At catcher, they lost Buster Posey at the beginning of the season, and have been living with Eli Whiteside ever since. The Reds have two catching prospects, Devin Mesoraco in AAA and Yasmani Grandal in AA. Mesoraco is the catcher of the future, and could come up and play right now. Ramon Hernandez could be put on favors, and very easily end up with the Giants.
At first base, they are still playing Aubrey Huff. I have very little doubt that Brandon Belt could outhit hit today given the chance. Belt is also, by all accounts, an above average fielder at first base, where as Huff is a liability.
Jeff Keppinger is fine at second base, after Freddy Sanchez went down and the Bill Hall experiment failed. And at third base, Pablo Sandoval is their best offensive player right now with Beltran currently sitting out.
Shortstop has been a blackhole on both offense and defense this year. Miguel Tejada and Orlando Cabrera both don't have the range to be league average defensively anymore, and both of their on base percentages are .275 this year. Brandon Crawford has managed that with above average defense, but is now back in the minors with Belt.
In the outfield things are a mess. They basically have Carlos Beltran, and then three players for the other two spots. When healthy Carlos Beltran should be playing everyday, in one of the corner spots. When Nate Schierholtz in the field with Beltran, Schierholtz should man right with Beltran in left simply because Schierholtz is a better defender with a cannon for an arm. Andres Torres has been good defensively, but hasn't been much at the plate this year. He's the only one that they have that can play a good center field, and should be there most days. Cody Ross can play all outfield spots, but not very well. It's a mess, and Bruce Bochy will most likely continue to mix and match. I don't see them being able to bring anyone in through a waiver trade who would be significantly better than their Ross, Torres and Schierholtz.
Their offense is mostly filled with older declining players, or players who's career might peak at being a league average player. Their pitching staff can carry them for the next few years, but their offense will need an overhaul if they want to continue to contend in future years. Their minor league system doesn't have much except Belt in the upper minors leagues. They could easily upgrade at catcher, shortstop, and first base by acquiring a Ramon Hernandez or Chris Iannetta type, and promoting Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford to play everyday. The Diamondbacks have taken over first place in the NL West, and should push the Giants until the end of the season. The Giants could easily win a few more games by making these small changes that would help them or defense with Crawford, offense with Hernandez, or both with Belt.
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