Belt Proves Giants Right

When Brandon Belt signed a new five-year contract with the San Francisco Giants worth $72 million, there were many who felt the decision might not end up working out for the franchise.
After an incredible start to the season, though, the Giants will be delighted with how Belt has performed in the month since signing his new deal.

While the 28-year-old has shown during his career that he could end up being one of the league’s best first basemen, this season has highlighted just how talented the Texan is and just how important he is to his team.

In terms of his offence, Belt has really stepped up and proven himself to be one of the Giants’ most consistent batters, walking at a remarkable 18.7% rate from his opening 166 plate appearances this season. With a strikeout rate of just 15.7%, a figure that has drastically cut since last year, Belt is now establishing himself as one of the Giants’ key batters. He has helped him to a .440 on-base percentage for the season so far. That is third in the league behind only Bryce Harper and Odubel Herrera.

Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of Belt’s batting this year has been his ability to hit the ball to all areas of the field, quietening those critics who claimed he was purely a pull-heavy hitter. Rather than allowing opposition teams to plan for him, Belt has been able to score plenty of runs this season in areas you wouldn’t expect him to be hitting.

While his talent was never in doubt, Belt had become somewhat readable up until a year ago, with teams fairly sure where the Giants man would be attacking. Currently priced at the time of writing at around 9/2 with the bet365 MLB Championship odds to top the National League this season, players like Belt are going to be key to the franchise’s hopes of being in contention come the latter stages of the playoffs.

Even though he has only recorded four home runs this season, Belt’s 41% line drive rate highlights the fact that he is hitting the ball well enough to mean that figure will undoubtedly increase over the next few months. Last season saw the San Francisco man hit a career-high 18 home runs, and while he might not have the power of other first basemen in the league, his all-round batting game has shown enough signs of improvement that he more than makes up for that area with his other attributes at the plate.

The two-time World Series champion knows he now has a very real chance of becoming one of the best first basemen in the league, and the battle will now be for Belt to continue his very encouraging early-season form into the rest of the campaign. For the price of around $14.5million a season, the Giants can feel extremely satisfied with how Belt is performing so soon after signing a new contract. While some players have been guilty of taking their foot off the pedal after being awarded a bumper new deal, Belt has used his contract as motivation to up all areas of his game and prove the Giants were right to show faith in him.

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