Giants’ bottom-third of lineup ranks near top in production originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
When he came out in support of the universal DH this spring, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi offered a compelling case for why it would help his team.
“Obviously it’s sort of an organizational priority for us to have a deep roster,” Zaidi said in March. “So having more at-bats to go around is a good thing for us.”
The Giants won 107 games last season in large part because of the depth of their lineup, and they were confident they could gain another edge over other organizations with everyone now having a ninth spot to fill every night. Through the first month and a half of the season, there’s good news and bad news on that front.
The Giants have, in fact, found ways to get tremendous production from the bottom of their lineup, although it’s not ideal when your 7-8-9 hitters are your best at times. Entering Tuesday night’s game, which the Giants won 10-7 over the Colorado Rockies, the third of their lineup with the highest OPS was the last one.
In the win, the Giants continued to get huge contributions from the bottom third, with No. 7 hitter Brandon Crawford picking up three hits and No. 8 hitter Thairo Estrada going 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI. That bumped the team’s OPS from 7-8-9 hitters up to .743, the second-highest in the Majors to the Los Angeles Dodgers (.813), which should come as no surprise. The two organizations are the best in the National League right now at accruing depth and finding hidden gems, although the Dodgers certainly have a bit more star power at the bottom of their lineup.
With Curt Casali’s two homers on Monday night, the Giants have 13 from the bottom third of their lineup, which trails only the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Their 63 RBI from the 7-8-9 spots easily leads the Majors. It also is more than the Giants have gotten from their 4-5-6 hitters, which is where this becomes a mixed bag, but also a reason for…