Has League Finally Adjusted to San Francisco Giants Breakout Star?

After a hot start to his career, this San Francisco Giants rookie has finally cooled off.

Aug 19, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald scores a run. / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

August has been a rollercoaster month for the San Francisco Giants.

They opened the month on fire, going 7-2 to start August after going 6-2 to end July. For a couple of weeks, it looked like the Giants might finally make a run and jump into the playoff race.

Unfortunately, that hot streak proved to be a flash in the pan.

San Francisco cooled off as its offense regressed, going 7-10 and tumbling back to .500. With 26 games remaining on their schedule, the Giants are stuck in fourth place in the NL West, 13.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their Wild Card prospects aren't much better, as they trail the Atlanta Braves by 6.5 games for the third and final spot.

One reason for San Francisco's slump has been the precipitous decline of rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who's crashed back to earth after a historic stretch at the plate.

Through Aug. 14, Fitzgerald was batting a scalding .318/.374/.637 with 14 home runs and 12 stolen bases through 60 games. That included his insane run from July 9 to Aug. 14, when he popped 13 homers in a 26-game span and essentially carried the Giants.

Player with 7+ HR and 7+ SB since the all-star break...

Tyler Fitzgerald 12HR/7 SB
Shohei Ohtani 10/16
José Ramírez 9/11
Francisco Lindor 8/7
Jazz Chisholm Jr. 8/9
Jarren Duran 7/10
Zach Neto 7/8pic.twitter.com/UIikZHat0s

— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) August 22, 2024

The second half of August has been a totally different story for the 26-year-old, however. Over his last 13 games, he's slashing a paltry .196/.250/.216 with nearly twice as many strikeouts (19) as hits (10). His OPS has plummeted more than 100 points in just two weeks, and manager Bob Melvin recently moved him out of the leadoff spot to take some pressure off him.

On one hand, Fitzgerald wasn't going to keep hitting like Barry Bonds forever and was bound to cool off eventually. One could simply attribute his skid to regression to the mean.

On the other hand, Fitzgerald's whopping 37.3% strikeout rate during his rut suggests that pitchers may have figured him out. That marks a considerable spike in his whiff rate compared to his 29.4% mark from last year and his 28.2% K rate this season prior to Aug. 15.

Baseball is a game of adjustments, and it appears that pitchers have found something to exploit in Fitzgerald's swing or approach. It will be interesting to see how he responds in September and if he's able to get himself back on track.

If Fitzgerald continues to struggle, however, he may have some serious work to do this offseason if he wants to be an effective hitter next year.