San Francisco Giants’ Belt and Crawford Take Cincinnati
Scoring 33 runs in a four game weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds, the San Francisco Giants enjoyed a few surprises in the near sweep of the team in red. Hunter Pence made his anticipated return, and he has not disappointed in the first two games of his 2015 season.
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But the most important takeaway from the series was the production of Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford. Or shall we call them the “Brandon Smash Brothers”?
Both Belt and Crawford combined for a .486 batting average, 13 runs scored, 4 doubles, 4 home runs, 15 RBI’s, 2 walks, and one stolen base. All of this in a four game span.
Saturday, Crawford was even feeling grand… slammish. Hitting it deep to right center, he cleared the bases to extend the Giants already comfortable lead of 5-0 to 9-0. The Giants went on to win that game 11-2.
May 17, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) scores at home past Cincinnati Reds catcher Brayan Pena (29) in the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Here is a statistical breakdown of their weekend series with the Reds:
Belt: .500, 8 runs scored, 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 7 RBI’s, one walk
Crawford: .467, 5 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 home run (grand slam), 8 RBI’s, one walk, one stolen base
When Pence was out for a month and a half due to a broken forearm he suffered in spring training, there were a range of doubts as to who would produce in the early going.
Giants fans have gotten to see the revival of Justin Maxwell, as his spectacular spring has carried over to the regular season, early on. Buster Posey has been decent out of the gate, but is still not quite up to his normal level at the plate. Third baseman Casey McGehee has also been a disappointment at times so far this season.
In Angel Pagan‘s new role — batting third in the lineup — his RBI production, when healthy, has been somewhat surprising as a player who has been accustomed to the lead off spot where he has thrived for San Francisco.
For these four, they’ve had a tough hill to climb during an early season that has featured a lineup with limited power. But Crawford and Belt have stepped up to the challenge, and have given a spark to the offense.
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Currently, Crawford is sporting a .285 batting average, and is leading the team in RBI’s (25), runs scored (20), and shares the home run lead with Posey (6). For Belt, he has a solid .321 batting average and leads the team in doubles (10)
Being known for his defense, the 2015 season has been a big surprise for a lot of fans as it appears Crawford is in the midst of a breakout season — and possibly a sneaky player who could start for the National League All-Star team in Minnesota in July. Defensively, Crawford and Andrelton Simmons take the shortstop position to a new level with their degree of difficult plays and strong arms.
But Crawford has separated himself from the rest of the team, showing that he’s more than just defense, and has become a complete player.
Belt, on the other hand, has started to erase doubts with his batting efficiency as of late. With a big, fat goose egg in the long ball department to start the season, Belt took care of that in one series against the Reds.
For the pair of left-handed batters, they are obviously quite comfortable playing away from AT&T Park. The sea-level located stadium poses issues for the lefty hitters as power comes rarely to them when they play at home. They do not display the strength that home run champion, Barry Bonds, used to fight the unpredictable winds.
Weather and wind can’t solely be blamed for the Giants run production at home, but it is encouraging to see an offensive outpouring in a ballpark where the Giants usually struggle. In Pence’s absence from the field, the Giants fought it out to a 18-18 record, but have gone 2-0 in his return.
Crawford has earned a promotion from the eight hole, and has moved up in the lineup. Belt has hovered around the middle of the lineup all year, and has solidified his chance to remain in that range. After all the panic of a mediocre offseason and injuries to Matt Cain, Jake Peavy, and Pence, the offense and play of the Giants has acted as a depressant. This is calming Giants’ fans and creating the realization that the squad is overcoming early season adversity.
Not only has it been great pitching that has guided the team early, the “Brandon Smash Brothers” have come up big in making up for the lost run production of Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse.
It is still early in the season, but Belt and Crawford have taken Cincinnati. And they seem to be leading the Giants’ offense in the right direction.