Giants Offensive Struggles Continue in Key Area As Bob Melvin Tweaks Lineup

Can the San Francisco Giants turn their hitting struggles around against a certain type of starter?

David Banks-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants look to bounce back against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night following Monday's loss to start the series.

The Giants have been a surprise team in the 2025 MLB season and are only one game back from the National League West lead.

However, as they look past the quarter point and envision themselves as true contenders, there’s been a clear issue on offense that needs to be figured out. Offensive firepower is on the team’s priority list ahead of the trade deadline, but manager Bob Melvin needs to continue searching for a solution for those already on the roster.

What Poor Trend Is Plaguing the San Francisco Giants' Offense?

San Francisco is struggling to hit against left-handed pitchers.

As Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports, the issues that were magnified against Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic have been a concerning trend.

The Giants are slashing .206/.280/.348 against lefty starters with just 10 home runs in those 15 games. 

Against left-handed pitchers in general, they have an 83 wRC+ compared to their overall 96 wRC+.

On Monday, they didn’t have a hit until Wilmer Flores got one in the sixth inning against Bubic, who Melvin acknowledged was going to be a tough matchup regardless of the team’s ailment.

However, this shows a glaring weakness in what should be a serviceable lineup of right-handed hitters against lefty pitchers.

Melvin has tried to address this with small tweaks, adding Wilmer Flores and Tyler Fitzgerald into the lineup. But the turnaround has to come from the key offensive contributors whose numbers aren’t pretty right now.

Willy Adames has improved his performance at the plate through May, but not so much against lefties. 

He’s posted a .143/.210/.161 slash line with a wRC+ of eight with no homers and five walks to 20 strikeouts in those plate appearances.

Matt Chapman actually has a better on-base percentage against lefties at .412, but has only recorded one of his eight home runs this season in that type of matchup.

While the team searches for an offensive spark, some attention needs to be paid to the situational struggles.

San Francisco will face a right-hander in their second game of the series with Kansas City, so they'll have to take advantage of this by hitting around Michael Lorenzen, who hasn't been tagged often this year.