Giants Must Improve in Key Offensive Area to Remain Long-Term Contender

It has been a fantastic start to the season for the San Francisco Giants, who remain one of the biggest surprises in baseball over a month into the year.

With the campaign a little over a month finished, the Giants continue to be one of the best teams in the league and are hanging tough in the challenging National League West.

If not for being in arguably the most difficult division in baseball, San Francisco could be a first-place team with how well they have performed.

Their success has been a result of a well-balanced roster that features a good starting rotation, an improved lineup, and an excellent bullpen this season.

Coming into the year, it was the rotation that appeared like it was going to be the greatest strength of the team. However, while the unit has been good, it has been the bullpen leading the way.

Due to struggles from the last several years, the lineup was always going to be a concern coming into the campaign. However, despite some key players struggling, the batting order has been better than expected.

Furthermore, as the team hopes to remain a contender, there is still room for improvement.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN+ (subscription required) recently wrote about the need for the Giants to improve their batting average if they want to remain a contender.

“The Giants can hang in contention with a league-level batting average, but they simply don't hit enough homers to do so if they continue to hover around .230," he wrote.

Will the lineup find ways to improve?

While San Francisco hovers in the middle of the pack in terms of batting average, it is an area that they should be focused on improving. Based on the roster, the Giants aren’t going to be a big-time power-hitting squad.

There are a couple of notable players on the team who have dragged down the batting average a bit, starting with star free-agent signing Willy Adames. The slugger has slashed .223/.304/.353, but has been coming on a bit of late.

Furthermore, Matt Chapman is also off to a slow start, slashing .210/.351/.411, which are well below his normal numbers.

In addition to the two stars on the left side of the infield struggling, LaMonte Wade Jr. has also been ineffective at first base. He could potentially be a player that San Francisco might look to replace and upgrade at the position.

Overall, with two of their best offensive players struggling, there is reason to believe that the batting average of the team should improve going forward.