SF Giants: Brandon Belt to undergo season-ending knee surgery

The longtime SF Giants veteran hopes to keep playing, but will have to see how his body responds to another surgery.

Marc Delucchi | Sep 2, 2022

SF Giants: Brandon Belt to undergo season-ending knee surgery /

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants will be without first baseman Brandon Belt for the remainder of the 2022 season following the veteran’s decision to undergo season-ending knee surgery, according to a report by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Belt told Pavlovic that he hopes to continue his playing career beyond this season but will have to see how his knee recovers. Belt underwent the same procedure in 2015.

SF Giants first baseman Brandon Belt — Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Even if Belt had avoided surgery, it was unlikely that he would return to the Giants lineup this season. Nevertheless, his injury eliminates a potential big late-season addition to the lineup as the struggling Giants try to keep their minuscule postseason chances alive.

Belt was one of the best hitters in MLB as recently as last season, hitting a career-high 29 homers alongside an excellent .274/.378/.597 triple-slash in 97 games. This year, however, Belt was never able to get going, dealing with nagging injuries all season long. In the end, he managed just 8 homers this year with a far less impressive .213/.326/.350 line.

If this is the end of the road for Belt, it will mark the end of a fantastic career in San Francisco. Belt has been a key part of the Giants lineup for over a decade now, amassing 175 home runs in 1,310 games with a .261/.356/.458 triple-slash that was 23% better than league average production over the span of his career, per OPS+. The #BeltWars dominated fan debates for years, but Belt’s steadfast presence in the middle of San Francisco’s lineup quelled those criticisms over the last few years. While Belt did not amass the numbers to be a Hall of Famer, he’s one of the defining Giants of the 2010s.

Hopefully, any thoughts of his career coming to a close are premature, and Belt is able to return to the field and find his old form. He will be a free agent this offseason but could easily wait until next year to make a decision about his future. Given his struggles this season, it would not be surprising to see him re-sign with the Giants on an incentive-laden one-year deal next spring if he opts to give it one more go.

Published Sep 2, 2022

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).