San Francisco Giants Need Others To Begin Stepping Up To Extend Hot Start

The San Francisco Giants have gotten off to a wonderful start but need other players to start contributing to keep it up.

Apr 13, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee (51) celebrates after hitting a a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have gotten off to an incredible start in the 2025 MLB regular season, going 12-4 out of the gate.

That has them keeping pace with the red-hot San Diego Padres, who are just ahead of them at 14-3 on the season. The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers are 12-6 and the Arizona Diamondbacks are 9-7, making the National League West the gauntlet everyone believed that it would be.

Coming into the year, everyone knew that the Giants had a pitching staff that would help keep them competitive. In the early going, they have lived up to the billing.

San Francisco has one of the best bullpens in baseball headlined by dominant closer Ryan Walker. Randy Rodriguez, Erik Miller and Hayden Birdsong, in 23.2 combined innings, have yet to surrender a run.

Logan Webb looks like an ace again and Robbie Ray is on the cusp of regaining his Cy Young form.

What is going to determine if the Giants can maintain this excellent start is their offense.

Right now, the group is being carried by center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, right fielder Mike Yastrzemski and designated hitter Wilmer Flores.

Lee and Yastrzemski are tied for the team lead with 0.9 WAR. Flores leads the MLB with six home runs and 20 RBI.

Despite their heroics, San Francisco still has a combined slash line of .226/.303/.422, which is underwhelming in many regards.

Other players are going to have to step up, as the biggest concern facing the Giants right now is that their offensive success is coming largely from a historic performance from Lee.

As Andy McCullough of The Athletic (subscription required) noted in this week’s power rankings, Lee is one pace to challenge the all-time record for extra base hits in a season of 119, accomplished by Babe Ruth 1921.

He has hit an MLB-high eight doubles to go along with one triple and three home runs through 16 games. Right now, he is on pace to break the record.

Lee is proving capable of performing at a high level, as he already accomplished something this season that hadn’t been done by a San Francisco player since Willie Mays.

But, it is unrealistic to expect that Hall of Fame level production across the length of a 162-game season. At least it shouldn’t be all the team is relying on to keep them in the race.

Ranked as the No. 5 team by the MLB writers at The Athletic this week, the Giants are on the rise. To remain amongst the elite, other players are going to have to emerge as regular producers along with him.