The Giants first baseman is having the kind of success that a manager wants to see out of every player.
After playing in 11 games, Brandon Belt is currently tied for the second most home runs in all of baseball with four. His nine runs batted in leads the team, and is good enough for 18th among all hitters. Also, his .455 batting average ranks sixth among all players with at least 30 at bats.
Per Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News, Belt talked about how he feels at the plate:
“Everything is coming together. This is the most comfortable and confident I've felt in a couple of years. I’m getting a lot of confidence and I’m finding the right combination of mechanics."
He added:
“I’m seeing the ball really well right now. Everything feels good."
The Giants are hoping 2013 is the year Belt finally puts it all together. After a slew of highly regarded first-base prospects that did not pan out as expected, including John Bowker, Lance Neikro, Travis Ishikawa and Dan Ortmeier, Brandon Belt has Giants fans everywhere convinced the position is in good hands going forward.
Belt's rookie year displayed his home-run ability, as he slugged nine bombs in just over 200 at bats. However his .225 clip also proved major league pitchers could get him out all too easily.
2012 was nearly the exact opposite. Belt got his average up to .275, but the power completely disappeared, as he hit just seven home runs in 411 at bats.
If Belt can combine the two seasons, as manager Bruce Bochy is hoping he will, he could provide quite a punch from the back half of the lineup. Assuming the Giants will feature a lineup that has Sandoval, Posey and Pence in the middle, Belt's presence in the six slot could help turn it over at a much faster rate.
During 2012, Brandon Belt learned that the best way to play the game is to work as a team. Per Eno Sarris of FanGraphs, Belt said:
“I know we were playing Philadelphia, and I want to say we played the Dodgers after that. End of July some time. I kind of realized that, hey, you gotta help the team out somehow. Sometimes you get lost out there and you try to start playing to prove yourself, playing for yourself, however you want to say it. But if you go up there and remember that this is a team game, and you’re there for them, you’re going to play better personally in return.”
The team is very excited to see what their first baseman of the future brings in 2013.
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