LaMonte Wade Jr. on the San Francisco Giants; Licensed by CC 2.0
The San Francisco Giants win a lot of baseball games. This team has won nine of their last 11 games, with most of those victories coming on the road. What’s interesting about this latest success is that it has come after some brutal injuries to this team’s future stars.
Jung-Hoo Lee, the Giants’ biggest offseason signing, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Michael Conforto, the Giants’ hottest hitter through the first month of the season, is out with a hamstring injury. Blake Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, has just returned from a groin injury and is back to his old self.
Still, with all this bad luck, the Giants are in second place in the NL West with a .509 winning percentage (their best since going 2-1 to start the season in March). Ask any Giants fan and they’ll tell you this team felt lost early in the year. March and April were full of games that were extremely difficult to watch because the team lacked a sense of identity on the pitch. That’s all turned upside down over the past few days, as the Giants appear to be firing on all cylinders in hopes of making the postseason for the first time since 2021. This article will discuss some of the main parts that have contributed to this heat. strip.
Patrick Bailey has taken a huge step forward this season compared to his 2023 campaign. Bailey is quickly becoming a fan favorite with his reliable bat and extremely lethal defense behind the dish. In the most recent game of the Giants-Mets series, SF was down 6-3 in the 8th inning. Patrick Bailey stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and threw a ball over the fence to give the Giants a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. Such at-bats have been very common with Bale recently. In fact, no one on this team will want more runners in scoring position than Bailey at this point. He thrived in the clutch, a trait the Giants lacked in any hitter the past two seasons.
Looking at the offensive numbers, Bailey Baseball Savant page has more red than Rudolph on a foggy Christmas Eve. Bailey is in the 75th percentile or higher in every stat worth mentioning, most notably 94th in expected batting average, 93rd in average exit velocity and 100th in sweet spot percentage of release angle.
Equally impressive, Bailey also thrives on the defensive side of the ball. Of course, impressive defense is how he introduced himself to the league last season, as he earned a Gold Glove nomination in his rookie season. Still, it’s very encouraging to see him maintain his reputation as one of the best in the league. His pop time percentage ranks 98th. His caught stealing rate is 98, his circle is 81st and his total fielding value is 93rd.
There are a lot of good things to say about what Patrick Bailey has been doing on the field lately. Watch for Bailey to establish himself as the captain of this Giants team. His continued success at the plate and his reputation on defense are indicative of what Buster Posey has offered the Giants throughout his playing career.
Perhaps the Giants’ most underrated signing of the offseason has found his swing over the past few games. Matt Chapman is awake and finally getting the payoff he deserves. After spending so much time with the A’s across the bay, Chapman is on the right team to make an immediate impact. In the same game that Patrick Bailey hit his grand slam, Matt Chapman shined as usual with his glove.
Giants closer Camilo Doval had two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Mets. The bases were loaded in an 8-7 game in Queens. Hits a slow roller down the third base line on a 3-2 pitch. Chapman threw the ball bare-handed and made a crazy throw to LaMonte Wade Jr., who scooped the throw up in the dirt for the game-winning drive. That play might have been the most impactful of Chapman’s career because the stakes were about as high as they could get in the regular season.
Chapman’s 2024 start wasn’t the best. Watching him play, he was able to drive the ball to all fields but never had the stats to show for his good approach. Chapman’s final days were extremely successful, as he made several appearances in the series in Pittsburgh and has driven in runs in games ever since. It A baseball savant the numbers back up his success as he boasts the 92nd percentile in average exit velocity and 74th in batting run value. Another impressive stat he has is in the 97th percentile of the new Bat Speed metric. Baseball fans can call him Beth Chapman from now on.
A surprising bonus about Chapman’s game has been the decisions he makes on the basepaths. He ranks in the 94th percentile in base running value. He passes the eye test in this regard, too, as he always seems to take extra bases and scores from second with his 86-plus sprint speed.
Chapman has been the trusted veteran this team needs. As the season progresses, it is very likely that he will be a cornerstone in the Giants’ success. He needs to continue to pitch like he has and the Giants will continue to pick up wins with him on a daily basis.
Lamonte Wade Jr. was Barry Bonds Jr. in the 2024 season. Its value cannot be overstated. What he has done for the Giants with his bats has been extremely important. Unfortunately, the aforementioned unfortunate injury bug claimed another victim for Wade Jr. In today’s game against the Phillies, Wade Jr. suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him out for the next few days (possibly weeks). Nevertheless, his production is worth talking about today.
Wade Jr. has a .470 on-base percentage. Second-place Mookie Betts has a .431 OBP. LaMonte’s OBP is higher than his slugging percentage (.426), which is just ridiculous. Unfortunately, Wade Jr. doesn’t technically qualify for the leaderboard, but he’s right on the verge of reaching the plate in every game he needs to qualify. Although now that he’s injured, Wade Jr. won’t be on that leaderboard for the foreseeable future.
Lamonte’s plate discipline is what got him to where he is today. To him Baseball Savant page tells the story of a player with an absurdly good eye who smokes the ball when he decides it’s a good time to swing. He lands in the 99th percentile for strikeout percentage, 100th for walk percentage, and 96th for release angle sweet spot percentage. This production was lucky, as Wade Jr. is 97th in expected batting average and 98th in expected wOBA. As a role player on this Giants team, his ability to get on base and drive in runs has been extremely valuable.
Look for Lamonte to be back on the field as soon as he recovers from his hamstring strain. His advanced discipline at the plate and ability to come up when his team needs him most are traits that should be recognized by more baseball fans. Wade Jr. is trying to become one of the most underrated players in baseball.
The Giants need to ride the momentum they’ve built during this hot streak into the rest of the season. Bob Melvin and his staff have finally found the combination of players that has been able to deliver win after win for this club. Two other players worth noting are Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos. Both of these rookies have dealt with a lot of injuries in the field, and Matos even earned Player of the Week honors last week with 16 RBI. This team’s solid pitching and newly reawakened offense has a chance to go far this 2024 season. Be on the lookout for these Giants to be in the playoffs come October.
