Giant Power

So far in the month of June, the San Francisco Giants led the National League in home runs. Over the 18 games played in June, the Giants have hit 21 home runs. The Giants have not led the National League in home runs over a full month since August 2002, when they hit 42 homers, including 14 by Jeff Kent and 11 by Barry Bonds.

It's no secret that the Giants offense is the weak point of the team. But recently, Bruce Bochy has been sacrificing defense for offense. Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff have been playing the corner outfield regularly. They both are not good defense options, however it has paid off for the Giants offense.

For the month of June, Aubrey Huff is batting .350. His OBP (.452), Slugging Percentage (.783), and OPS (1.235) all led the Giants. He also leads the Giants in home runs for the month with 6.

Very similarly, Pat Burrell has been racking the ball since becoming a Giant on June 4th. He has hit 3 homers, and is batting .341. His OBP (.404), SLG (.634), and OPS (1.038), all rank second on the team behind Aubrey Huff.

During this month the Giants are 11-7 (.661) so the plan of offense first seems to be paying off. San Francisco's pitching remains phenomenal (especially since Todd Wellemeyer is on the DL). Adding in the return of Freddy Sanchez, and the calling up on Buster Posey -- who are both batting above .300 -- and are good defensive players. Taking a few steps back defensively with Huff and Burrell starting in the outfield for the exchange of few more runs a game will continue to work out.