San Francisco Giants’ Hunter Pence sits out, first time since 2012

The San Francisco Giants’ Hunter Pence is a really good baseball player, and despite being 31-years old, Pence doesn’t like to take days off, if he can avoid it. Hunter Pence last missed a game after he was traded to the Giants by the Philadelphia Phillies in late July of 2012. Today, Pence will take a day off, his first off day since Aug. 1, 2012.

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Pence has been excellent this season for the Giants, hitting 20 home runs, scoring 106 runs and has been worth 4.6 fWAR in 2014, playing in 160 games. Pence played in every game in 2013, but with the Giants having already secured an NL Wild Card berth, and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinching the NL West title, there’s not a whole lot left to play for in MLB’s regular season for San Francisco. The Giants technically still have a shot at hosting the Wild Card game, but since they’re already assured of playing in the game, giving Pence a breather before then seems prudent.

Pence has never played fewer than 108 games in a season during his eight-year MLB career, and that was his rookie year, when he was with the Houston Astros in 2007. The Giants signed him to a five-year, $90-million dollar contract extension shortly after the 2013 season, and he’s produced in the first year of the extension.

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