Joc Pederson has outperformed most of the top free agents San Francisco Giants fans wanted the team to sign. Whether it's Seiya Suzuki, Kris Bryant, or Marcus Semien, Pederson has bested them all.
Overall, the SF Giants' offense has been among the best in the game—again. Despite the loss of Buster Posey to retirement and Bryant to the Colorado Rockies, the Giants have a 114 team wRC+, which places them in the top five in all of baseball. The narrative that "everything went right last year" is simply false, so the Giants did have room for improvement with several players. Mike Yastrzemski had a down year, but has rebounded in a major way in 2022. They also dealt with many injuries last year, and unfortunately that has carried over into 2022.
But on the whole, the Giants have been able to pick up the slack. Pederson is largely responsible, as his 160 wRC+ is among the best in baseball. Overall, the team has scored 5.19 runs per game, second in MLB behind only the Dodgers. Their weaknesses have actually been pitching and defense, which no one really expected. Sure, they have some questionable defenders like Darin Ruf and Wilmer Flores, but they were able to perform adequately last season. This year, their defense has not been very good and the pitching has under-performed. Much of that looks like bad luck, however, and should correct as the season goes on. If they can pitch better and continue to hit well, they could really take off as the season goes on.
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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.
Follow Ben Kaspick on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.
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