How San Francisco Giants Skipper is Getting the Most Out of Star Slugger

It hasn't quite gone as expected for one of the San Francisco Giants' high-profile additions, but after one change, he's starting to turn his season around.

Jun 19, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Jorge Soler (2) rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam against the Chicago Cubs during the eight inning at Wrigley Field / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants were one of the most aggressive teams during this past offseason when they attempted to overhaul their roster. Missing out on the playoffs for two straight years and not finishing over .500 made this front office spend some cash to land high-profile names.

This resulted in Korean superstar Jung Hoo Lee, flamethrowing pitcher Jordan Hicks, perennial Gold Glover Matt Chapman, slugger Jorge Soler, and reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell coming aboard.

Expectations were that these additions would push them into the playoffs, but the Giants have never been able to get going and find themselves on the outside looking in.

Much of that has been caused by injuries or poor performances by many of these players, with Lee out for the season after dislocating his shoulder, Snell spending time on the IL twice, Hicks regressing, and Chapman and Soler not having consistent at-bats.

Soler was expected to bring an element of power to this lineup that has sorely been missed, but with only 10 home runs and a slugging percentage of .401 entering Saturday's game, it hasn't worked out that way.

However, manager Bob Melvin has been searching for a way to get his slugger going, and it seems like he might have done just that.

The long-time skipper has put the 2023 All-Star into an interesting role as their leadoff man.

"He embraces being a leadoff hitter, he loves doing that. The numbers would suggest here recently, too, he's been doing his best work in that spot. He's really comfortable in the spot, he embraces it, and it makes our lineup, especially at the top, we can mix and match right-left a little more. It's a dangerous hitter in the leadoff spot," Melvin told Michael Wagaman of NBC Sports Bay Area.

There isn't a huge sample size, but the numbers do suggest he's an impactful leadoff hitter.

In 15 games, he's posted a batting average of .250 compared to .224 when not at the top of the lineup. That's not a huge jump, but it's certainly much better than he had been performing. But where the impact has been seen is driving in runs.

At leadoff, he's had eight RBI compared to the 28 across the 67 other contests he's played.

"I don't know how to explain it, when I bat leadoff I've always done good. Every time I bat first, the numbers are always good," Soler said.

Even though he was brought in to be San Francisco's cleanup hitter, it's a great sign that Melvin was able to pivot and not be stubborn so he could try to figure out a way for him to impact this team.

Right now, hitting leadoff has been the answer, and hopefully it propels him to a hot second half of the year.