San Francisco Giants Rookie Slugger One of Hottest Hitters in Baseball

The San Francisco Giants offense has been carried the last few months by their rookie slugger.

Aug 19, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (49) scores a run during the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park. / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants remain on the fringes of the National League wild card race. At 65-64, they are only 3.5 games behind for the third and final wild card spot that is currently held by the Atlanta Braves.

The Giants blew a golden opportunity to cut into that lead last week when they lost three out of four games to the Braves. That disappointing series really put a damper on their postseason odds, which sit at 6.7 percent on before games on Thursday.

If they are going to make a late-season push, they will need to find some help for Tyler Fitzgerald in the lineup. He has been a one-man wrecking crew since the All-Star break, being recognized by Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report as one of the hottest players in baseball.

Through 31 games and 135 plate appearances in the second half, Fitzgerald has produced a slash line of .325/.378/.699. His tOPS+ and sOPS+ are both elite over that period as he has launched 12 home runs with eight doubles and one triple, knocking in 21 runs and scoring 24.

Fitzgerald is also providing a spark on the base paths with his seven steals. This is a hot streak that began in June and has carried through the rest of the summer to this point. A truly scorching July has pretty much been sustained through August, as Fitzgerald is keeping this offense afloat almost by himself.

He wasn’t even playing poorly in the first half. Fitzgerald had a slash line of .279/.337/.430 in the first half which is more than adequate. His performance has just reached new heights and he has gone nuclear in the second half.

Just how good has the San Francisco rookie been? According to FanGraphs, he has the fourth-highest WAR in baseball since July 19th. The only players better are Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.

As an added bonus, Fitzgerald has incredible versatility in the field. As Kelly noted, he has been logging a majority of his innings at shortstop, but he is also playing left field, center field, first base and second base.

That will help manager Bob Melvin find rest for guys who need a breather without having to take his hottest bat out of the lineup. Fitzgerald is cementing his status as a core piece for the Giants moving forward with every game they play.