Melvin confident Soler will bounce back from early season slump originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Giants manager Bob Melvin moved slugger Jorge Soler down a few spots in the batting order in hopes of taking some of the pressure off San Francisco’s cleanup hitter.
It worked out pretty well, as Soler broke out of a prolonged slump at the plate with a two-run moon shot off Pirates reliever David Bednar in the 10th.th entry of Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh at Oracle Park.
It was Soler’s fourth home run of April and fifth overall with the Giants after signing a three-year, $42 million free agent contract with the club in the offseason.
When Soler signed his contract in February, San Francisco hoped he would provide some of the energy that had been missing from the Giants’ lineup for some time.
Instead, it has been a rather frustrating season for the powerful Cuban. Before his home run on Saturday, Soler was just hitting. 214 with just six RBIs.
Before the game, Melvin was asked about Soler and told reporters he thought it would only take one good hit for the veteran designated hitter to get out.
Melvin said pretty much the same thing later about the former World Series MVP.
“Sometimes all it takes is a few good hits, and this was a really good hit,” Melvin said. “Unfortunately, this left us with one race less. But it will have a big influence on how we do it and the production we get. He has a great track record of running and hitting balls like he did.
Soler’s home run was an absolute rocket that traveled about 433 feet, had an exit velocity of 109.8 mph and landed two-thirds of the way into the stands in left center.
It’s the fourth home run Soler has hit this season with an exit velocity of at least 110 mph, tying Joc Pederson for the most home runs hit that hard by a Giants player in a month since at least 2015. by Statcast.
“It was a very difficult start to the season. I couldn’t find my rhythm, but things like this will help me find my rhythm,” Soler said. “I’ve been working in the cage taking extra batting practice so I can start contributing.”
Soler’s struggles at the plate symbolize the Giants’ entire team’s problems with runners in scoring position. Before making his big outburst against the Pirates, Soler had gone just 2-for-23 (.087) with runners in scoring position.
At the start of the weekend, the Giants were collectively batting .238 with five home runs and 47 strikeouts with runners in scoring position.
“To be honest, I don’t know how to explain it,” Soler said. “I know I ran into situations with runners on base, but I couldn’t drive them.”
This led to a lot of criticism directed at Soler, both from fans and the media.
However, the 32-year-old tried to isolate himself from it all, knowing full well what the numbers indicated about his lack of contributions.
“I don’t really pay attention to what the fans are saying (and) I don’t read anything,” Soler said. “But I know for a fact that I’m not doing my job.”
For at least one try, however small the sample size, Soler did his job. Now it’s a matter of keeping the good times and the good swings rolling.
