Editor's Note: The above video is from July 25, 2018.
SAN DIEGO - A season that was so promising at the start is likely over. Giants first baseman Brandon Belt flew back to San Francisco on Wednesday night and manager Bruce Bochy said Belt "more than likely" has played his last game. Belt is expected to have surgery on his right knee.
Belt has been playing through the injury much of the second half, and in recent days has been unavailable even as a pinch-hitter. He was out of the lineup the previous four days and the team decided he should go back home to see doctors.
Belt was batting .307 on June 1 with 11 homers, 31 RBI and a .950 OPS. Emergency appendix surgery set him back and he injured the knee - which has already been cleaned out once in his career - in July while reaching first base in Seattle. Belt was never the same after the knee injury and will finish the year with a .757 OPS, 14 homers and 46 RBI. He was just 4-for-32 in September with 16 strikeouts and was in and out of the lineup because of the knee pain.
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Bochy said it's a disappointing end for a season that looked like it would be a career year.
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"I'm sure he sees it that way, too," he said. "He really was locked in and doing some really good things and the injuries caught up to him. He was on pace to hit 30-plus homers and drive in close to 90 runs. I know he's disappointed he couldn't stay healthy and stay out on the field.
"You're dealing with a knee and your stride, it affected him and sent him in that funk he got in."
