24-year old lefty swinging 1B Brandon Belt ripped the ball in spring training, but he has struggled since the real bullets have been flying.  Belt has played in 9 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 6 for 36 (.167 avg, .439 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  He has now played in 217 games in his first three years with the Giants and he is 161 of 634 (.254 avg, .744 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 16 homers, 76 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.  The Giants need him to step up and start hitting like he has done so far in his minor league career.  Belt has played in 189 games in his first two years in the minors and he is a .343 hitter with a 1.052 OPS!

29-year old righty swinging outfielder Hunter Pence has not hit well for the Giants, despite knocking in a lot of runs for them. He has played in 51 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 42 of 189 (.222 avg, .658 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 37 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Pence has now played in 152 games overall this year for the Phillies and Giants in which he is 150 of 587 (.256 avg, .743 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 21 homers, 96 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The Giants hope that Pence’s bat will come alive in the playoffs.

24-year old lefty swinging 1B Brandon Belt has a .343 batting average with a 1.052 OPS in 189 career games in the minors, but he has been nowhere near as good in the majors. Belt has played in 76 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 49 for 196 (.250 avg, .768 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 31 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 139 games in his first two years with the Giants and he is 91 of 383 (.238 avg, .745 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 13 homers, 49 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The Giants need Belt to step up with the bat, period.

35-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Aubrey Huff looks like he’s done and that’s bad news for the Giants as he is signed for next season at $10 million bucks. He has played in 28 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 8 for 53 (.151 avg, .548 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. Huff has now played in 335 games in his first three years with the Giants and he is 301 for 1,143 (.263 avg, .778 OPS) with 152 runs scored, 39 homers, 150 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. It looks like the Giants are stuck with Huff as a bench player unless the decide to cut him loose, and that will be expensive.

In his first two years with the Giants, 33-year old switch-hitting CF Andres Torres looked like a late bloomer. But this season, he has been truly awful for the Giants. Torres has played in 99 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 71 for 318 (.223 avg, .640 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 3 homers, 18 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He has now played in 313 games in his first three years with the Giants and he is 248 of 977 (.254 avg, .772 OPS) with 157 runs scored, 25 homers, 104 RBIs and 49 stolen bases. Torres will likely be out as the Giants’ starting CF after the year he turned in.

If 24-year old righty swinging catcher Buster Posey wouldn’t have gotten hurt earlier this year, you have to think the Giants would be right there with the D-Backs. Posey played in 45 games for the Giants this year and he was 46 for 162 (.284 avg, .756 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 160 games in his first three years with the Giants and he was 172 for 585 (.294 avg, .815 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 22 homers, 88 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Giants have really missed Posey’s bat as having either 31-year old Eli Whiteside or 29-year old Chris Stewart are akin to having two pitchers in the starting lineup. Whiteside has played in 77 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 40 for 193 (.207 avg, .605 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Chris Stewart has played in 61 games for the Giants this year and he is 29 for 146 (.199 avg, .545 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. The Giants should have really dealt for a stopgap type catcher like Ramon Hernandez.

The Giants need 34-year old lefty swinging 1B Aubrey Huff to step up.  In his first four games of September, he is 2 for 12 (.167 avg) without any runs scored or RBIs.  He has been known to be a second half hitter, but that just hasn’t been the case as he has been playing like he has been in a trance this whole year.  Huff has played in 135 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 118 for 489 (.241 avg, .670 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 12 homers, 55 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  It’s going to be very hard for the Giants to catch the Diamondbacks but it will be next to impossible unless Huff gets hot at the plate.

The Giants re-signed 30-year old righty swinging outfielder Cody Ross over the winter to reward him for his great post-season. Ross played in 15 games in the Giants’ magical run to a World Series Crown last year in which he was 15 for 51 (.294 avg, 1.076 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 5 homers and 10 RBIs. Ross has been in a yearlong slump, just like most of the Giants have so far this year. Ross has played in 100 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 78 for 332 (.235 avg, .701 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 10 homers, 41 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Giants need Ross to step up soon if they are going to win the N.L. West this year.

I know that a couple guys just got here (Cabrera and Beltran), but the trio of guys the Giants dealt for were supposed to add zip to the lineup. They have not done that yet. Carlos Beltran has played in 9 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 10 for 37 (.270 avg, .695 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. They expect him to catch fire soon and be the #3 hitter they forecasted him to be. Jeff Keppinger has played in 15 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 14 for 57 (.246 avg, .593 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 1 RBI. The Giants just want him to get on base and hit for average like he has done his whole career. Look for him to pick things up with the bat soon for the Giants. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera has played in 6 games for the Giants since coming over from the Indians last week and he is 6 for 23 (.261 avg, .565 OPS) with 1 run scored, 0 homers and 3 RBIs. I expect that Beltran, Keppinger and Cabrera are going to catch fire with the bat soon and then the Giants will soar in the N.L. West.

The Giants are getting next to nothing out of the catchers offensively since the season ending injury to Buster Posey. 31-year old Eli Whiteside has played in 31 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 15 for 75 (.200 avg, .597 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs. Whiteside is a decent backup catcher but his weaknesses are exposed the more he plays. 29-year old righty swinging Chris Stewart hasn’t played well either for the Giants. He has played in 11 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 3 for 21 (.143 avg, .408 OPS) with 3 runs scored. The Giants need to go outside the organization to find a starting quality catcher in the trade market and they need to do that sooner rather than later.