Brandon Belt made his debut with the San Francisco Giants on March 31st, 2011. He got a hit and a walk in a 2-1 loss at Dodger Stadium. He hit his first home run the next day in a 4-3 loss. He turned 23 a few weeks later. He was the full-time starting first baseman the next season, playing 145 games and slashing .275/.360/.421 good for 2.8 bWAR. The Giants won the World Series, if you remember. He had an even better year in 2013. Injuries limited him to 61 games in 2014 but he returned for the post-season and hit one of the most memorable homers in franchise history in the LDS against the Nationals, breaking a tie in the 18th inning. He was also on the receiving end of the greatest double play in World Series history a few weeks later. He had eight hits in that seven-game win over Kansas City. He continued to be productive and was an All-Star in 2016. Injuries took their toll and he lost a lot of playing time over the next several years. In the end, over 12 seasons, he played in 1310 games and had 5079 plate appearances. He hit 175 homers, scored 628 runs, and racked up 2010 total bases. His career slash line in orange-and-black was .261/.356/.458. That's 27.3 bWAR (25.1 fWAR) with a 123 OPS+ (124 wRC+).
Not bad for a fifth-round draft pick!
Belt's gap power was curtailed by the big dimensions in San Francisco and his trips to the IL also dinged his "counting stats" but there is no doubt he was an excellent major-league player. A look at his 2020 COVID-shortened season numbers (.309/.425/.591) and his injury-shortened 2021 campaign (.274/.378/.597 with 29 HR in 97 G) shows that he retained his elite skills even at ages 32 and 33. A smooth defender at first with a strong, accurate arm he and fellow-Brandon BCraw anchored the Giants infield for a decade. Belt's balky knee ended that run of superb play in 2022 and he entered the off-season with a lot of uncertainty about his career. Apparently he healed up enough for Toronto to take a flyer on him in 2023 for $9M.
Belt was a polarizing figure for Giants fans. His awkwardness and goofy charm endeared him to a lot of people (all that "Captain" stuff was hilarious!) but his batting style (patient, selective, gap hitter) did not fly for a franchise that expects lefty first basemen to be Will Clark or Willie McCovey. Certainly he was not those players--he could be only himself. He was not Joey Votto or Paul Goldschmidt--two likely HOFers--either but he was only a notch below them and can look back on a fine NL career. If future Giants draft picks can play 1000+ games and hit 20% better than the league average then the front office will be certifiable geniuses!
Adios, BB. Thanks for all the great baseball.
--M.C.
5 comments:
The giants announcers and most fans recognize him as a very good fielder. Possibly a gold glover, and until 2022, by my eye test, he was an elite fielding first baseman. However, whenever I checked the "so called fielding metrics" he was either rated as league average, a drop below, or a drop above. Just another reason for me, that I do not trust fielding metrics. Before Crawford's 2021 season, I saw fielding metrics on him putting him in the bottom third of shortstops for fielding. I wanted to know what those experts were smoking? How did they come by these stats. Was he that terrible in 2020? Made me wonder how much hitting stats effects fielding metrics for some players. To me the Brandon to Brandon connection in the infield was elite. The only issue that I had with Crawford's fielding, is that when he does make an error, the whole team seems to fall apart. I was hoping that the giants would have a relatively healthy Belt on the field for at least 100 games in 2023. Those hopes have been dashed. I hope for much success for Belt, playing in a foreign country. With the U.S. dollar now being stronger than the Canadian dollar I hope he is being paid in U.S. dollars.
A great tribute!
From Mike Krukow on KNBR:
https://www.knbr.com/2023/01/10/krukow-breaks-down-giants-first-base-situation-without-belt-its-a-concern/
That was a pretty bad 1985 team! This is a much stronger club. But he is right about the fielding. It is going to be a work-in-progress. The Giants are a ground-ball heavy pitching staff, too.
Austin Wynns is back with the team at AAA. The Giants have said they aren't going to pursue a free agent catcher. They will go with the guys they have and try to add with NRIs in Spring Training.
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