The San Francisco Giants are having a lousy season. They’re 35-48, sitting fourth in the NL West, and the trade deadline is looming like a storm cloud. But in the middle of all that, two guys are just raking.
Luis Arraez is hitting .324. Jung Hoo Lee is hitting .322. And according to Bob Nightengale, they’re the first pair of teammates to both bat at least .320 through a team’s first 83 games since the Rockies did it in 2019 with Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado. That’s legit company, even if the parallel ends there — Colorado finished 71-91 that year, which isn’t exactly something you want to emulate.
Arraez has three home runs and 31 RBIs to go with his average. Lee has five homers and 31 RBIs. They’re essentially the same guy at the plate, just with different handedness. But here’s the thing: history doesn’t care if your team is winning or losing. It just notes the number and moves on.
The Giants have been a grind to watch this year. Pitching has been inconsistent, the lineup beyond Arraez and Lee has been spotty, and the front office is probably fielding a lot of calls right now. You don’t get to .324 by accident in today’s game, but you also don’t get to 35-48 without some serious issues elsewhere.
Take the Rockies comparison again. Blackmon and Arenado were putting up video-game numbers in 2019 but the team still lost 91 games. Same deal here. Two guys can be locked in and it still doesn’t matter if the bullpen blows leads or the other hitters go cold for weeks at a time.
Arraez came over in a trade and immediately did what he does — put the bat on the ball, spray it to all fields, make defenders look silly. Lee, the Korean star who signed a big deal last winter, has adjusted quicker than most expected. His .322 average isn’t just a hot streak. It’s been steady all year.
The Giants open a series Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They’re not out of it mathematically but they’re running out of time to turn things around. The front office has decisions to make. And somewhere in the middle of all that, two hitters are quietly doing something that hasn’t been done in half a decade.
Does it matter if they don’t make the playoffs? Maybe not to the record books. But it’s something to watch, even when the season feels like it’s slipping away.
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