San Francisco Giants Rise In MLB Power Rankings With Surprise Slugger Shining

The San Francisco Giants have gotten off to a great start thanks to some surprise production.

Apr 9, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Wilmer Flores (41) rounds third base for a run against the Cincinnati Reds during the sixth inning at Oracle Park. | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have surprised many with their hot start to the season, but this past week was a mediocre one for the franchise.

To begin the week, the Giants lost two out of three games at home against the Cincinnati Reds. A lot of credit has to go to the pitching staff of the Reds, who shut down San Francisco’s offense in the first two games of the series.

In what appeared to be a challenging series against the New York Yankees on the road, the Giants were able to rise to the occasion and take two out of three games against them.

Winning road series against teams the caliber of the Yankees is very impressive, and while it might have been a disappointing start to the week, they ended it on a high note.

Even though some of the top players in the lineup for San Francisco aren’t producing yet. However, some unlikely sluggers have stepped up and really helped weather the storm for the team.

Will Leitch of MLB.com recently ranked the Giants sixth in his MLB Power Rankings, which is a two-spot increase from last week. Furthermore, he spoke about the start to the campaign for Wilmer Flores, who has helped spark the team.

“The Giants are having an absolute blast of a start to their season, and one of the primary reasons has been Wilmer Flores. He has been a monster so far, leading the Majors in homers with six and sitting in second in RBIs with 19.”

The amazing start for Flores is certainly a welcome sight for San Francisco, who must not have been expecting this at all.

So far in 2025, the slugger has slashed 255/.281.582 with six home runs and 19 RBI.

Due to a knee injury last year, the 33-year-old really struggled and seemingly had no power. In 71 games, he slashed .206/.277/.318.

It is shocking to see that Flores has almost had a better season this year than he did all of last campaign, but his strong performance has been timely.

With both Willy Adames and Matt Chapman struggling out of the gate on offense, players like Flores stepping up has been key.

This could be the most significant difference than in years past, as the depth of the lineup seems much-improved early on.

While Flores might not be able to keep up the ridiculous pace he’s on, it has come at a good time early on in the year.

The Giants are playing great baseball right now, and keeping pace in the National League West. However, the NL is shaping up to be a gauntlet early on.