What's Eating Aubrey Huff?

Well folks, they did it. The San Francisco Giants are officially the best team in the league -- at not scoring runs.

As of Friday, June 10th, the Giants rank dead last in Major League Baseball in runs scored. Worse than the Padres, the Pirates and -- gulp -- the Oakland A's.

And it doesn't stop there.

The Giants rank 26th out of 30 in team batting average. They're 25th in both on base percentage and slugging percentage.

To put it much more PG than I wanted to at 10:00pm last night, they're pretty much just god-awful.

And yet, they're 7 game over .500. I'm willing to bet God himself is sitting up in Heaven in his shining white polar bear robe, stroking that long beard of his, trying to figure out how in the heck a team that ranks dead last in runs can have the fifth best record in baseball.

God's no slouch. He knows it's the pitching. In fact, he knew the answer before we asked that question. And then he ran a marathon. He knows the Giants rank 3rd in all of baseball in ERA, 2nd in batting average against, and 5th in both WHIP and quality starts. Their highest ERA for a starting pitcher is 3.51. There are about 10 teams in Major League Baseball who wish their best starting pitcher would get his ERA down to 3.51.

But God also knows something that we're all slowly figuring out -- no amount of pitching can carry an offense this bad.

Last night's 3-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds was perhaps the perfect example. Madison Bumgarner, who sports a 2-8 record despite a 3.23 ERA, pitched 7 innings of 1 run ball. Giants fans may have become too used to it, but that is very good.

Twice the Giants had a runner on third with one out, trailing 1-0. Twice they struck out. Moreover, Ross capped off his strikeout by hurling his bat 20 rows back into the stands. Huff finished his off with what's becoming his trademark "kneel, swoop and pull." It sounds like a new way to tie your shoes, but in reality it's just Huff's preferred method of swinging at junk.

This brings me to the main topic of this post -- Aubrey Huff.

What do we make of this man who carried this offense to a World Series championship in 2010, but is now arguably the most disappointing hitter on the team?

Huff broke out in St. Louis a few days ago, hitting four homer runs in two days. But as I said then, two nights can't break you out of a slump. Huff is 4 for his last 27 (.148) since returning home.

Aubrey's case is a tricky one. In some senses he's not doing that poorly. His RBI and HR totals aren't down all that much from his tremendous 2010 campaign. He still leads the team in both categories in 2011. He's on pace to drive in 82 runs (down from 86 in 2010) and hit 20 HR (down from 26 in 2010), neither of which are incredibly significant drop offs.

The true horror in Huff's game comes in simply getting on base. His batting average (currently .223) has been under .230 since April 22. This isn't a slow start. This is simply bad hitting. What's more, he can't lay off bad pitches to free bases via the walk. His On Base Percentage (.385 in 2010) is all the way down to .281.

Where this most clearly reveals itself is in Huff's Run totals. In 2010, he scored 100 runs. In 2011, he has just 20. He's on pace to score only 51 runs. I'm no math wiz, but that's a pretty significant drop. Obviously part of Huff's paltry run total stems from his teamamtes' inability to hit the broadside of a barn, but it has more to do with Huff rarely being on base and rarely being in scoring position.

Ok, now punch yourself in the face.

But if you want my nowhere-near expert advice on what's really eating Aubrey Huff -- it's the strikeouts. Not just their frequency, but their barbarity.

Yes, barbarity. And I'm not saying that because Aubrey Huff already looks a bit like a Viking. I'm saying it because his swings and misses have been so ugly, so hard to watch, it's a wonder he hasn't just hurled his bat into the outfield.

I'm sure he's come close. Huff looks angry. He looks pissed about striking out when it's only a 2-2 count. He knows its coming, and he still can't prevent it. And while I appreciate how hard he's grinding, one can't help but think him being in a bad mood as long as he's still hitting below .230 is going to spread some negative energy. It certainly spread some negative energy in my apartment when he swung at a ball in the dirt last night with a runner on third and one out.

He looks like he's guessing at the plate, like he just hoping this next pitch will be a fastball exactly where his bat is, rather than watching the pitch and reacting to it, a la Buster Posey or Freddy Sanchez. Granted, Aubrey Huff and Freddy Sanchez are very different players, but Huff hit .290 last year. He is capable.

And if this team is going to right the offensive ship, he is simply going to have to improve. He's not going to hit .290 this year. Hitting .220 for a third of the year pretty much rules that out. But he can hit .270 and help this team to a Division title.

--
Madison Bumgarner must be the new Matt Cain. Or I guess just another Matt Cain. These stats from Mycheal Urban's column blew my mind:

"Bumgarner has made 13 starts this year. In 10 of them the Giants have scored three runs or less.

In nine of them, two runs or less.

In six of them, one run or less.

In five of them -- five of 13! -- the Giants have rewarded his mostly solid efforts with the baseball equivalent of a Halloween bucket full of pencils. Nothing."

Bumgarner's stellar performance was the only silver lining to an otherwise overcast night. In his last 21 innings pitched, he's allowed 3 ER. For about the first five starts of the year, Bumgarner looked nothing like the stud we saw in the 2010 playoffs. He struggled with his command, his focus and seemed to get knocked around the second time through the lineup like it was clockwork.

Now, he's looking more and more like the boy-wonder who dominated Game 4 of the World Series. While everyone hoped and expected Bumgarner would return to form, it's still an incredibly important development for the team. Having him in near-top form significantly bolsters the rotation and will give the team a much better chance to survive on with the 1-run gruel the offense serves up.

--

The San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds are the exact opposite team.

Before last night, the Cincinnati Reds had won a total of 4 games in which they scored 3 runs or less. The Giants had won 15.

Consider the offense:
In all of MLB, the Reds rank 2nd in Runs, 6th in batting average, 3rd in on base percentage and 10th in Slugging. The Giants rank 30th, 26th, 25th and 25th respectively.

Now, the pitching:
In all of MLB, the Reds rank 26th in ERA, 25th in WHIP and 22nd in Batting Average Against. The Giants rank 3rd, 5th and 2nd.

So consider these next three days like looking into a mirror and seeing a negative image of yourself: