Brandon Belt: Good

Sorry ladies, he's taken

KNBR callers are funny, mainly because they are KNBR callers. Their suggestions are plentiful and I’m positive that if Giants management listened to all of their ideas, the Giants would be playing on Venus while swinging alligators at pork chops. Needless to say, some of their ideas can be a little radical, but not in the good way. There’s even a twitter about it. Today, a caller chimed in to ask Marty Lurie, and I'm paraphrasing, "Should the Giants trade for Carlos Lee and maybe have him off the bench or play a little first base?" Apart from the 'never in a million years'  part of the answer, there is an underlying theme in the question that rings true among many Giants faithful. That is, that the Giants still need a first baseman. Enter, Brandon Belt.

            

Belt has been smoking the ball recently, and his power numbers have increased dramatically. He's having an incredible month, and the Giants have rewarded him with consistent playing time. And yet, as the KNBR caller suggests, there is still some trepidation among fans about the Belt situation. This is where I list stats abut how good Brandon Belt has been this year, even without isolating the past 3 weeks. Granted, he doesn't have as high of plate appearances as many other Giants, but the stats still speak volumes to his performance. 

List of OBP leaders on the Giants:

Rk	Pos		G	PA	OBP ▾
1	LF	Melky Cabrera	68	303	.396
2	1B	Brandon Belt	58	180	.383
3	3B	Pablo Sandoval	36	152	.368
4	RF	Gregor Blanco	61	224	.351
5	C	Buster Posey	63	256	.348
6	CF	Angel Pagan	66	288	.339
7	2B	Ryan Theriot	44	167	.307
8	3B	Joaquin Arias	47	173	.287
9	SS	Brandon Crawford	63	230	.285

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

             

              List of OPS+ leaders on the Giants:

Rk	Pos		G	PA	OPS+ ▾
1	LF	Melky Cabrera	68	303	162
2	3B	Pablo Sandoval	36	152	137
3	1B	Brandon Belt	58	180	132
4	C	Buster Posey	63	256	127
5	CF	Angel Pagan	66	288	119
6	RF	Gregor Blanco	61	224	116
7	2B	Ryan Theriot	44	167	78
8	3B	Joaquin Arias	47	173	77
9	SS	Brandon Crawford	63	230	74

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

             There are multiple observations one could make after examining the two charts. One thing I notice is that Brandon Crawford is not a good hitter. Starting to think he might be overmatched. But more to the point of this post, is the fact that it's not a stretch to say Brandon Belt is posting better numbers at this point in the season than Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval. Obviously, Posey has had better value because he's played in more games and his defense adds value also, but as far as raw offensive numbers go, Belt has the advantage.

          It's not just in relation to the Giants. In comparison to the rest of the NL first baseman, with at least 180 at bats, Belt has the 2nd highest OBP and the 3rd highest wOBA. Again, there's a large disparity in plate appearances, but Belt's performance still displays how dominant he has been and how there's no reason to be looking anywhere other than Belt to play first base for the Giants. Belt has not only emerged as one of the best hitters on the Giants but also among first baseman.

            I'm in no way anointing Belt as the next Joey Votto, firstly because unlike Votto, he did not arrive on Earth via a comet from the planet Krypton. But also because its 180 plate appearances. Not the smallest sample in the world, but not enough for us to know if the new Belt is here to stay. Yet if you're still looking for stray first baseman or any possible trade to fill an imaginary void, stop. There are many things you can do that are more productive, like looking up how many mangos it takes to make a Mango A Go Go Jamba Juice smoothie. Belt hasn't just been a serviceable first baseman, he's been a really good one.
 
           Please do your self a favor, and stop looking for 1st baseman and admire the good one we already have.

            Also Belt is hitting seventh most days. That should probably stop.