San Francisco Giants Hitters: 2015 Team Preview
Oct 29, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence hits a single against the Kansas City Royals in the second inning during game seven of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
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The Giants are World Champions for the third time since 2010 with an offense led by Buster Posey and Hunter Pence.
Buster Posey is easily the best offensive catcher in fantasy baseball because he will hit 20+ homers and slash .300/.375/.500 at the weakest position. Posey is expected to play about 120 games as the starting C of the Giants and spend the rest of the season at first base. This is a great move to protect him from too much wear and tear behind the plate.
While Posey is the premium player at his position, I doubt I will pay the third round price tag when there are plenty of bargain catchers this year. There are other options like Yan Gomes, Brian McCann, and maybe even Travis d’Arnaud if you want a 20 home run catcher. However, Posey has by far the highest floor, and he will hit for a terrific average. I would save money on catcher, but Buster Posey will at least offer you a respectable return on investment.
Brandon Belt is the National League version of Eric Hosmer. He has tantalizing potential, but he has never put it all together for a whole season. That being said, Belt will be in his age 27 season right in his prime, and he has tempered expectations. He has a career OPS of .791 and 124 wRC+. A career year from Belt would not shock me in the slightest, and I would be pretty happy if he posted Tanner’s very realistic projection on him.
Excluding his 108 game rookie season with the Astros in 2007 (which was still wildly productive), Hunter Pence has been a great everyday player every single season. For the past seven seasons, Hunter Pence has played in at least 154 games, hit 20 homers, scored 76 runs, and recorded 74 RBI’s. Even though the 20 homers and 74 RBI’s came in 2014, those numbers represent his floor. The eccentric world champ is a top 50 lock and has not missed a game in the last two seasons.
Tanner Bell of Smart Fantasy Baseball has created all of the projections seen in this post. You can read about how he develops his projections here. His projections are invaluable to this site. You can also visit his site at www.smartfantasybaseball.com.