Marco Scutaro, without a doubt, is the most valuable player the San Francisco Giants have in the lineup. However, with the starters the Detroit TIgers will have on the mound, the rest of the Giants lineup will have to start hitting if they expect to win a World Series.
It could also be said that without Scutaro's offensive production at the top of the lineup, the Giants would have found themselves sitting at home with Albert Pujols, watching the St. Louis Cardinals play in the World Series.
Scutaro hit .500 in the NLCS. He went 17-34, drove in four runs and was tied for the team high with six runs scored. His best supporters were Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt who combined for 16 hits, three homers and eight RBI.
Everybody else went cold.
Buster Posey had only two more hits than Matt Cain. In the seven NLCS games, Posey had four hits.
That's ridiculous.
Hunter Pence did not do much better only getting five hits in the series.
Let's be frank, a lot of the runs the Giants scored were off of errors made by the Cardinals. Had St. Louis played cleaner defense, the Giants would not have had all those runners on base.
The Detroit Tigers will not make errors. They only have four in nine games played. The Cardinals made eight in the NLCS, proving that making solid contact and reaching on base hits will be vital against the Tigers.
Also, the Giants' hitting mentality should be "make contact," and not "hit the home run." The Tigers' starting pitchers struck out the most hitters, totalling 66 in the entire playoffs while only giving up six homers.
If the Giants are not patient at the plate and do not make these pitchers throw, they will be in for long nights of swings and misses.
Posey and Pence will have to start hitting. If they can't get hits or at least find a way to get a base, the Giants will not win this World Series.
