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It was a good month for the Giants. When was the last time we said that? It’s been awhile. A really long while. They went 18-10 on the month, avoiding the dreaded June swoons of prior years.
Not counting short months, it was the first time the team compiled a winning record in a month since last June. No, wait, I’m sorry, since the June before that. It was their first winning month since June, 2016. And it was an enormous improvement over last year’s 9-18 campaign that sealed the fate of the helpless Giants.
So where did that improvement come from? Just as I did for April and May, I chronicled the improvements and regressions at each position based on Fangraphs’ WAR calculations for last June, and this June. The results are interesting! Kind of. I guess.
Catcher:
2017
Buster Posey: 0.9 WAR
Nick Hundley: 0.1 WAR
Total: 1.0 WAR
2018
Buster Posey: 0.5 WAR
Nick Hundley: 0.4 WAR
Total: 0.9 WAR
Net gain: -0.1 WAR
Nick Hundley’s campaign to be a starting-caliber catcher rumbles onward, and has helped the position be a strength for the Giants, even when Buster Posey has slower months.
First base:
2017
Brandon Belt: 0.5 WAR
2018
Brandon Belt: 0.1 WAR
Net gain: -0.4 WAR
Brandon Belt - who is really, really good at baseball - missed a lot of June because . . . wait, I’m sorry, why do humans have appendixes?
Second base:
2017
Joe Panik: 0.9
2018
Joe Panik: 0.1 WAR
Net gain: -0.8 WAR
Joe Panik is not playing incredibly well. Last June he played incredibly well. We’ll take the wins though.
Shortstop:
2017
Brandon Crawford: -0.2 WAR
2018
Brandon Crawford: 1.3 WAR
Net gain: 1.5 WAR
The Giants caught a lot of flack this offseason for implementing a strategy with the first bullet point reading, “play the same players and assume they’ll play better.” But then Brandon Crawford has a month in which he is 1.5 wins better than the same time period last year, and it all makes sense.
Third base:
2017
Eduardo Núñez: 0.6 WAR
2018
Pablo Sandoval: 0.1 WAR
Evan Longoria: -0.5 WAR
Total: -0.4 WAR
Net gain: -1.0 WAR
Wait, I’m sorry, am I mourning the loss of Eduardo Núñez? I was not prepared for this.
Infield bench:
2017
Jae-Gyun Hwang: 0.1 WAR
Conor Gillaspie: 0.0 WAR
Kelby Tomlinson: 0.0 WAR
Christian Arroyo: 0.0 WAR
Aaron Hill: -0.3 WAR
Ryder Jones: -0.4 WAR
Total: -0.6 WAR
2018
Alen Hanson: 0.3 WAR
Kelby Tomlinson: 0.0 WAR
Total: 0.3 WAR
Net gain: 0.9 WAR
Last June, the Giants most valuable infield bench option had eight plate appearances. It turns out that when your backups aren’t notably below replacement level, your team often performs better.
Right field:
2017
Hunter Pence: 0.4 WAR
2018
Andrew McCutchen: 0.7 WAR
Net gain: 0.3 WAR
Remarkably, the Giants only played one person in right field for all of June, both last year and this year. Less remarkably, Andrew McCutchen is better than Hunter Pence.
Left field:
2017
Austin Slater: 0.6 WAR
2018
Hunter Pence: 0.0 WAR
Mac Williamson: -0.1 WAR
Total: -0.1 WAR
Net gain: -0.7 WAR
Last June, the Giants played Austin Slater a fair amount, and it paid off. You won’t hear me say this ever again, but the Giants should be more like the 2017 Giants.
Center field:
2017
Denard Span: 1.2 WAR
2018
Gorkys Hernandez: 0.4 WAR
Net gain: -0.8 WAR
The Gorkys Hernandez parade rolls on, but . . . holy heck I do not remember Denard Span putting up 1.2 WAR last year, let alone in one month.
Outfield bench:
2017
Gorkys Hernandez: 0.3 WAR
Orlando Calixte: -0.3 WAR
Total: 0.0 WAR
2018
Austin Slater: 0.1 WAR
Gregor Blanco: -0.1 WAR
Austin Jackson: -0.3 WAR
Total: -0.3 WAR
Net gain: -0.3 WAR
/Fart noise
In total, Giants position players in June were worth 1.6 WAR fewer than in June of 2016. So where exactly are those wins coming from? I think you know.
Starters:
2017
Ty Blach: 0.5 WAR
Jeff Samardzija: 0.5 WAR
Matt Moore: 0.2 WAR
Johnny Cueto: -0.1 WAR
Matt Cain: -0.5 WAR
Total: 0.6 WAR
2018
Andrew Suarez: 0.8 WAR
Chris Stratton: 0.7 WAR
Madison Bumgarner: 0.5 WAR
Dereck Rodriguez: 0.5 WAR
Derek Holland: 0.5 WAR
Total: 3.0 WAR
Net gain: 2.4 WAR
Gaining 2.4 WAR from starting pitching in a single month is insane. Doing so without your number two and three pitchers is even more insane.
Relievers:
2017
George Kontos: 0.3 WAR
Sam Dyson: 0.3 WAR
Cory Gearrin: 0.2 WAR
Steven Okert: 0.1 WAR
Hunter Strickland: 0.1 WAR
Kyle Crick: 0.0 WAR
Dan Slania: 0.0 WAR
Bryan Morris: -0.1 WAR
Josh Osich: -0.2 WAR
Mark Melancon: -0.2 WAR
Derek Law: -0.3 WAR
Total: 0.2 WAR
2018
Will Smith: 0.7 WAR
Tony Watson: 0.5 WAR
Reyes Moronta: 0.5 WAR
Ty Blach: 0.2 WAR
Mark Melancon: 0.2 WAR
Cory Gearrin: 0.1 WAR
Hunter Strickland: 0.0 WAR
Sam Dyson: 0.0 WAR
Pierce Johnson: 0.0 WAR
Total: 2.2 WAR
Net gain: 2.0 WAR
Gaining 2.0 wins from a bullpen in a single month is nothing short of ridiculous. But it turns out Will Smith, Tony Watson, and Reyes Moronta are really, really good pitchers. At least at the moment.
In all, the Giants pitching gained 4.4 WAR from last June to this June. That is 100% unsustainable, as Chris Stratton so kindly reminded us on Tuesday, but thankfully Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija are coming back, so maybe that will ease the blow of regression.
On the whole, the June, 2018 Giants were 2.8 WAR better than the June, 2017 Giants. More importantly, they won nine more games, so take that, WAR makers.