Frustrations growing for Rafael Devers, Giants' woeful run production

Frustrations growing for Rafael Devers, Giants' woeful run production originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Already trailing the Cincinnati Reds by four runs, Rafael Devers led off the second inning by whiffing on a seven-pitch duel with starter Rhett Lowder, flailing on an 87-mph slider. The San Francisco Giants' cleanup hitter stomped away from the MLB batter's box. En route to the dugout, he slammed his bat on the ground and snapped its handle.

Frustrations appear to be mounting with the Giants' woeful offense.

Through 18 games, they rank last in the National League with a minus-27 run differential. Their struggles extended to the lineup's collective on-base percentage (.269), which ranked second-to-last in the league.

With only nine team home runs, the Giants (6-12) also ranked last in slugging (.292) and OPS (.561).

Can it get any worse?

Giants' offense lacks power, production

The Giants' run-scoring struggles began after spring training, as they failed to score in their first 20 regular-season innings, matching a team record. They were blanked three times in their opening nine outings.

Here's a brief look at some of the lineup's struggles, through Wednesday:

• Harrison Bader (.115 batting average)
• Patrick Bailey (.136)
• Jung Hoo Lee (.213)
• Devers (.229)

Willie Adames, who opened the season batting .184, remained confident in the veteran-laden lineup, featuring Matt Chapman, Hellot Ramos and Devers, a three-time All-Star.

"We have a ton of guys that have power on this team, Chappy, Ramos, Rafi obvisouly can hit a lot of homers," Adames said, as reported by SI.com.

Under Giants manager Tony Vitello's direction, the organization continues to emphasize contact hitting and controlling the strike zone. They owned the league's 11th-best batting average (.242), but scored the fewest runs (52).

Frustrations are mounting.

And it could get worse.