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San Francisco Giants: Notes from a Wild Month of April

By Sean Bialaszek

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 30: Nick Hundley #5 of the San Francisco Giants and his teammates celebrates after Hundley hit a pitch-hit walk-off two run rbi single to defeat the San Diego Padres 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning at AT&T Park on April 30, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 30: Nick Hundley #5 of the San Francisco Giants and his teammates celebrates after Hundley hit a pitch-hit walk-off two run rbi single to defeat the San Diego Padres 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning at AT&T Park on April 30, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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The San Francisco Giants experienced some highs and plenty of lows during the first full month of the season, but came away with a winning record.

The San Francisco Giants finished the first full month of the season with a winning record, walking off the San Diego Padres on the last day of the month to earn their 15th win compared to 14 losses. There were certainly some winnable games that were lost in the month, but considering where the team was last season and some of the unfortunate situations they’ve dealt with (i.e. injuries and slow starts from certain players), they have to be pretty happy.

Since losing three of four games to the Padres back in the middle of the month, the Giants have won nine of their 14 games, including seven wins in their last nine games.

Last season, the Giants were 9-17 at the end of April, the worst record in the National League, and were already five games back of the second wildcard spot. Right now, they sit only two games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates for that second place.

Let’s go around the team and see what happened in the first month.

  • Nick Hundley was the hero on Monday night, and his luck has started to change in a big way. His first few weeks were an exercise in futility, as he just couldn’t buy a hit no matter how well he struck a ball. He picked up just one hit in his first 15 at-bats, but has gone 10-26 (.385) with two doubles, two home runs, and six RBI since. His hit on Monday was the biggest yet this year, and goes down as Hundley’s third walk-off hit in just over a season with the Giants.

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  • Evan Longoria is another guy that’s really picked it up in recent weeks. Though he wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well in his first few weeks as a Giant, he still just couldn’t find grass with anything. He started his Giants’ career going 4-35 (.114), including an 0-15 start, but has become one of the Giants’ top hitters since. In his last 18 games, Longoria is hitting .333/.364/.635 with six doubles, five home runs, and 14 RBI. There were plenty of questions about how he would do coming off a subpar season, but he has come along very well since the slow start.
  • Another new guy that just hasn’t settled in yet is Andrew McCutchen. His slash-line is rather pedestrian to this point at .212/.339/.364, but there’s a lot to suggest that he’s been the victim of more than his fair share of bad luck. According to Fangraphs, McCutchen has the fourth-highest hard-hit percentage in baseball at 50.7 percent, which is 13 percent higher than his career norm. He also leads the team in average exit velocity at 92.6 mph. He’s taking plenty of walks (19 walks leads the team) which leads to the respectable OBP, but his .242 BABIP suggests that his average and slugging percentage should start rising soon.
  • The first month of the season was one of the best months of Brandon Belt’s career. He finished the April with a .995 OPS, the fourth-highest mark in any month in which he played at least 10 games in his career. His 173 wRC+ was the third-best. Entering May, Belt is tied for second in the National League in OPS, and tied for the National League lead in wRC+.
  • On the pitching side, Johnny Cueto also had one of the best months of his career, maybe even the best. He made five starts and pitched to a 0.84 ERA and 0.688 WHIP, both numbers that lead the National League. They also marked career-lows over a full month for Cueto (in months in which Cueto made three or more starts). Doing this at any time is incredible, but to do it after Cueto dealt with injuries and family issues last season to pitch to a 4.52 ERA and 1.446 WHIP makes it that much more impressive.
  • It’s been said time and time again by many different people, but the fact that the Giants were able to get Tony Watson after camp opened on a deal that kept the team under the luxury tax was astonishing. He was a stabilizer in the Giants’ bullpen, making 12 appearances and posting a 0.71 ERA, 1.026 WHIP, and striking out more than a batter per inning (14 K in 12.2 IP).
  • Hunter Strickland is also settling into his new role quite well. Since he blew two consecutive save chances in the middle of the month, Strickland has made six straight scoreless appearances while allowing two hits and a walk and striking out eight batters. His feel for the new slider has come along extremely quickly, and the command of the pitch recently has been excellent. Six of his 15 strikeouts this season have come with the slider.
  • D.J. Snelten seems a likely candidate to be optioned with the coming roster moves but the rookie made a good impression in his first stint as a big leaguer. His appearance Monday, only the second one of his career, was a big one. With the bullpen depleted after a long, long weekend, Snelten was pressed into a tight situation in the eighth inning. He was handed a two-on, two-out spot and tasked with keeping the deficit at two. He needed four pitches to end the threat, striking out Eric Hosmer (who was 2-3 with a double and walk at that point) with a really nice changeup on the hands.
  • In his second stint with the Giants, Pablo Sandoval has turned into a rather valuable asset off the bench. He’s another player that didn’t start the year well, but has come on recently, picking up six hits in his last 18 at-bats, including a trio of doubles. And no matter what happens for the rest of the season, Sandoval throwing a 1-2-3 inning as a pitcher will go down as one of the best moments of the year.

Next: 3 Up, 3 Down: Back to .500

May will not be an easy month for the Giants, as they first have to finish their series with the Padres (absolutely no guarantees there) before they head on a three-city, 10-game roadtrip after a Thursday off-day. They’ll have to face the Pirates, Phillies, and Braves on the trip, and all three teams have been early season surprises that currently sit above .500.

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