The San Francisco Giants have gotten an unholy hot streak from an unlikely place lately, as outfielder Nate Schierholtz has really heated up over the last week or so.
And Bruce Bochy, recognizing Schierholtz's hot streak, is going to keep running him out there while he's hot.
“He’s going to be out there. He’s earned it,” Bochy said, per Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com. “It’s probably tough for him coming out of spring training. He had some injuries and he didn’t quite feel his swing. But he’s found it, and he’s going to be out there.”
Over the past six games, Schierholtz is 10 of 21 for a .476/.542/.810 (!) line, with one home run, four RBI, three walks and a stolen base. Oh yeah, and two of his league-leading three triples.
The Giants in that stretch are 5-1, including a pair of wins in Monday's doubleheader after Sunday's game was rained out.
“The day off [Sunday] definitely helped and I felt strong,” Schierholtz said, via Baggs. “I saw the ball well. I feel like my swing is there. I’m on time. That’s all I focused on all night.”
For the season, Schierholtz is raking: a .372/.404/.744 line, with three home runs (his career high is nine), his league-leading, tying-for-his-career-high triple count, and just three strikeouts. His OPS+ is 225.
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In short, it's not likely that Schierholtz's success is entirely sustainable. But that's not important: what's important is that he's raking right now, the Giants and winning and Bochy is smart enough to ride out his hot streak.
