The 15-24 Giants are currently tied with the Mets for the worst record in the National League. The Giants’ offense and pitching staff have both been below-average to start the year, with the offense being the bigger culprit of the two for the team’s woes. On the whole, San Francisco is batting .241/.284/.357 with an 81 wRC+, the latter tying the Mets for worst in the Majors. On the plus side, Casey Schmitt has a 144 wRC+ through 128 plate appearances, while Luis Arraez is pairing his old-school hitting style with surprisingly strong defense. However, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames are all hitting poorly. Chapman “leads” those three with a 79 wRC+ in 160 plate appearances.
An X-factor in the Giants’ offense is center fielder Harrison Bader. The 31-year-old has been on the injured list since April 15 with a left hamstring strain, though Susan Slussler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Bader is likely to come off the IL soon. If so, that would amount to about a month of missed time for the outfielder. Bader only made 55 plate appearances before he went down, but the club is hoping he can show some of his form from last year when he returns. In 501 plate appearances between the Twins and Phillies in 2025, Bader had career-best marks in wRC+ (122), wOBA (.346), and home runs (17).
There were some signs that Bader was lucky to hit so well. He batted .359 on balls in play, which was well above the league average. Bader’s .297 expected wOBA was also well below his actual mark of .346, while his 87.2 MPH average exit velocity ranked in just the 12th percentile in the Majors. There is also the matter that Bader has been a below-average hitter in most seasons, including every season from 2022-24 leading up to his 2025 breakout. In other words, Bader had a career season at the plate in 2025, but no one was expecting him to suddenly become a generational hitter.
The Giants would be happy if Bader was simply an average hitter. Between their starting outfield of Heliot Ramos, Drew Gilbert, and Jung Hoo Lee, only Ramos is even an average hitter. He currently has an even 100 wRC+ through 150 plate appearances, along with an unsustainable .368 average on balls in play. Lee is slightly below-average with a 96 wRC+, and his subpar defense isn’t helping his value either. Gilbert was the Giants’ first-round draft pick in 2022 and has some promise, but he has so far been outmatched in the Majors. The return of Bader wouldn’t be a huge upgrade for the team’s offense, whose fortunes depend on Chapman, Adames, and especially Devers returning to their career norms. That said, swapping in Bader for Gilbert in center would hopefully deepen the lineup with an average hitter, to say nothing of Bader’s exceptional defense.
Amid the struggles of the Giants’ star hitters, one of the bright spots has been the performance of Schmitt. With a 144 wRC+ in 129 plate appearances, Schmitt has been far and away the Giants’ best hitter of 2026. At the same time, he has mostly served as a DH, and those plate appearances may be hard to come by in the wake of Bryce Eldridge‘s recent promotion. That said, Sussler writes that Schmitt has been taking outfield reps during batting practice this week. That builds on prior comments from manager Tony Vitello, who said that Schmitt is athletic enough to handle the corner outfield if the team handles it “intelligently.”
Sussler clarifies that Schmitt is still an emergency option, and there are no immediate plans to play him in the outfield. Still, giving him outfield reps, even in a low-pressure setting, is a smart move on the part of the Giants. As tantalizing as Eldridge’s potential is, the club simply cannot afford to take Schmitt out of the lineup. For what it’s worth, the six-foot, 215-pound Schmitt’s sprint speed is in the 72nd percentile according to Statcast. He also has above-average arm strength. It remains to be seen how he might take to the outfield, but converting Schmitt into a utility player might be the best way to get him regular reps and leverage his defensive strengths.
Turning to the Giants’ pitching staff, Sussler reports that reliever Sam Hentges‘ rehab assignment is ending today. He is likely to be activated soon. The Giants’ bullpen has a decent-enough 3.85 ERA, although their combined 0.1 fWAR places them in the bottom ten relief units in the Majors. It remains to be seen how Hentges will impact that picture. The 6’8″ lefty pitched for Cleveland from 2021-24 and was generally solid in the latter three years. He underwent shoulder surgery in September 2024 and arthroscopic knee surgery in September 2025, but he now appears fully healthy. The keys to Hentges’ success will be generating groundballs, which he has done 53.4% of the time in his career, and recovering his mid-90s four-seam velocity.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
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