If the Giants wanted to make a change and fix their lineup, what could they do?

You will not be surprised to learn that the San Francisco Giants have more games scoring five runs or fewer than any team in baseball. You will not be surprised to learn that they have fewer games scoring six runs or more than any team in baseball. Even when the Giants have an outstanding all-around game, like they did in Tuesday’s 5-0 win against the Colorado Rockies, it’s hard to ignore that the bulk of those runs wouldn’t have scored without back-to-back swinging bunts. Hitting the ball three feet in front of the plate at a minus-45-degree angle isn’t a typical path to success.

Fans are understandably frustrated. The players, coaches and front office are probably more frustrated, but it’s the fans who have the easiest way to express their frustrations. And they’re calling for change. Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has heard those calls for change, and he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he doesn’t “necessarily see any immediate moves on the horizon,” while also acknowledging that a month’s worth of at-bats isn’t something a team can just ignore. A way to paraphrase the full quote is that it’s not time for drastic changes, but it’s not not time to start thinking about drastic changes.

Sounds like a plan. Until you spend a minute or two looking at the different levers the Giants can pull. It’s one thing to ask for change. It’s a much more important thing to have a change worth making, and I’m not sure the Giants have a single one available.

Not yet. Maybe not at all. Let’s go through the options.

(Note: They did have to pull one lever on Wednesday when Heliot Ramos was recalled to replace Jorge Soler, who is going on the injured list with a right shoulder strain.)

The #SFGiants made the following roster moves today:

— OF Jorge Soler placed on the 10-day Injured List (retroactive to May 5) with a right shoulder strain.

— OF Heliot Ramos (#17) recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.

Slater is on the roster to match up against the best bullpen lefties and southpaw starters around baseball. Over the last three seasons, he’s been exceptionally good at that job. If you’re skeptical, check out where he ranks in Win Probability Added for players with fewer than 1,000 plate appearances over those seasons. Or look at where his career OPS as a pinch-hitter ranks among batters with at least 100 pinch-hitting appearances (11th, just behind Albert Pujols).

In 2024, though, he looks like a different player. His hard-hit percentage is down, as is his maximum exit velocity. He’s 0-for-3 against right-handers and 4-for-31 with no extra-base hits against lefties. There’s no sugarcoating those kinds of struggles.

In Triple A, Heliot Ramos was hitting .296/.388/.565 with eight home runs, which is strong. The average hitter in the Pacific Coast League, though, is hitting .265/.359/.440, which suggests that you can’t just copy/paste Ramos’ numbers into the majors. Also, note that his career OPS in Triple A is .768 over 1,101 plate appearances, and Slater’s in the major leagues is .739 in 1,530 plate appearances. Pretty close, except one has been doing it in the majors this whole time.

I’m still a Ramos believer, and I think it’s entirely reasonable to hope he has a Slater-like career. He’ll have a chance to prove that he can fill that role while Soler is on the injured list. But when it comes to right now, the second week of May, who do I want up against Josh Hader with the bases loaded? Slater, even with his miserable slump. There’s plenty of evidence from before this season that he’s good at his job, and there are 34 at-bats that suggest he’s washed. He’s the perfect encapsulation of “it’s not time for drastic changes, but it’s not not time to start thinking about drastic changes.”

Luis Matos should be on this list, but he’s having a dreadful season so far in Triple A, which puts him in the same company as … just about every other Giants minor-league hitter. So unless there’s a physical problem that the Giants are aware of and we’re not, this swap seems hasty. The upside of Slater is worth another month, at least. And if you’re scoffing at the thought of Slater having upside, re-read the first paragraph of this section.

There was a two-week stretch where Schmitt was one of the hottest hitters in the minors, but he’s slumping again, and his OPS is back down around the league average. While it’s almost encouraging that he’s walked 6.5 percent of the time (the MLB average is 8.7 percent), don’t forget that there are robo-umps in the PCL, and they’re favoring the hitters a lot more than the pitchers right now.

That written, Chapman looks lost. Absolutely incapable of hitting a fastball down the middle or a slider off the plate. He had a ghastly finish to last season, too, so I’m not going to attempt to convince you that this is just a phase.

I can’t imagine a scenario, though, where the Giants would give up on the dream of a typically valuable Chapman season for a dream that Schmitt can handle major-league pitching for the first time in his life. Not yet.

Estrada can run into a mistake and hit a dinger. He’s also playing at a Gold Glove level at second base, which is a big deal for a sinker-heavy staff. His at-bats are often non-competitive, however, as he might be the Giants’ biggest chaser since Pablo Sandoval, and he’s been a net drag on the lineup.

Wisely is hitting for average (.321) and power (seven doubles, four homers) in Triple A, and he has a .415 OBP, with almost as many walks as strikeouts. He can also play a mean second base, although not as good as Estrada, most likely.

Wisely also couldn’t hit a lick last season, so Estrada is still the better bet offensively for now, even as he’s hacking his way through the National League. With a 27-man roster, Wisely would be a contender for a mirror-image complement to Tyler Fitzgerald, which would allow the Giants to sneak him into more games and see if he’s turned a corner. As is, Estrada is going to have to flop harder than this for a change.

Ahmed has also been one of the best defenders in baseball according to the nerd stats (and my own eyes), so this is another trade-off that the Giants would be uncomfortable making. At least he’s helping in a defensive capacity at one of the most important positions in the field.

Luciano is doing fine in Sacramento, with a .274/.407/.363 slash line. The on-base percentage jumps out, and it appears that he’s working hard to adjust his plate approach, which is exactly what he needs to do. Good for him. It’s come at the cost of his power, though, and that’s something he’ll need to figure out before he becomes entrenched in the majors. He’s a 22-year-old having a classic developmental season in the best possible sense. There’s no need to screw that up in a mad search for more runs.

The real answer might be Fitzgerald sneaking into more games, but that’s also far from being a given. The Giants aren’t going to fix their lineup through their middle infield, mostly because a) they have Gold Glove candidates there, and b) that’s not how baseball teams are supposed to fix their lineup.

Flores was the best hitter on the team last year. He might be the worst hitter on the team this year, even though the competition for that title has been fierce. He’s also a Willie Mac Award winner and clubhouse glue. That’s not to say the Giants should commit to him forever, but that’s the kind of profile that gets a player more than a month to turn it around.

Besides, have you looked at the Giants’ depth chart at first base in the minors? It’s a problem. There’s no right-handed hitting first baseman in the Giants’ upper minors who will put up minor-league numbers that are close to what Flores did last season in the majors. If it’s not Flores, it’s a trade for a first baseman from a bad team, or it’s a waiver claim that makes you roll your eyes. Neither one of them would be as likely to contribute for the reason of the season as Flores still is.

Note that all of these “stick with the incumbent” takes don’t make me feel better. I’m just not seeing the obvious fix anywhere in the organization.

I do enjoy thinking about a Giants fan I’ve invented in my head: Person who thinks “The Giants should have re-signed Joc Pederson” without realizing that they would have absolutely lost their mind if that had happened.

Soler has had these seasons before. He had one in 2022, and he was having one in 2021 before the Braves got their hands on him. It’s possible that he’ll hit .202/.294/.361 all season. But like (almost) everyone else who is struggling, it’s worth holding out for a turnaround. He did hit 36 homers last season, remember. Maybe that power will return when he’s back from the IL stint.

Conforto’s high-water mark in terms of OPS came after his eighth game, which he finished with a 1.293 OPS. Since then: 107 plate appearances with a .200/.252/.310 line.

If you’re wondering when Mike Yastrzemski is going to appear, he didn’t make the cut because his low-water OPS mark came after his eighth game, and he’s been doing fine over the last three weeks. He’s the anti-Conforto, right down to the day they started going in opposite directions. The Giants’ best plan is to hope they figure it out. Considering the state of the farm, it might be their only plan

I have never felt more confident that a .640 OPS player will turn it around. Lee might not hit .300 this season, but his expected slash line of .288/.327/.419 would definitely play from a center fielder with solid range and a plus arm, and it’s worth noting that lines up almost perfectly with what ZiPS projected from him before the season started. He isn’t the problem, and he’s likely to be a part of the solution.

Offense is down around the league. The league average slash line is .239/.312/.384, which means the entire league is a Giants player. Whoa.

Except that’s simplifying it too much. The distribution for team OPS and runs per game is wildly stratified, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and others scoring about what they did last year and teams like the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners are pretending like it’s 1968. The Giants need help scoring more runs, regardless of what the rest of the league is up to.

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