By Anthony Franco | September 2, 2022 at 5:40pm CDT
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt will undergo season-ending surgery on his right knee tomorrow, he tells Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The club informed reporters earlier in the week that surgery had been recommended, and the 34-year-old indeed decided to go under the knife after taking a couple days to deliberate.
Belt has been on the injured list a few times this season due to inflammation in that knee. This is far from the first year in which the joint has proven bothersome, as Belt has twice previously undergone surgery and had it drained on multiple occasions. In a forthright chat with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle last week, the 12-year MLB veteran acknowledged the knee could be problematic for the rest of his career.
During his interview with the Chronicle, Belt seemed to imply he could retire entirely if the knee injury were especially damaging. Speaking with Pavlovic today, however, he stated he intends to continue playing if he’s able. “It’s just going to depend. I’m going to play next year if I can get my knee healthy and strong again,” Belt said. “Last time I had this surgery (in 2015), I responded really well to it. That’s what I’m anticipating … If I can get it strong like I did (in 2015) then I’ll play, but if not then I’m not going to go out there and be substandard all the time. We’ll just have to see.”
Belt’s production has taken a huge hit this season, one of the reasons for the Giants inability to replicate last year’s 107-win campaign. Through 298 plate appearances, he hit only .213/.326/.350 with eight home runs. Belt’s just a season removed from blasting 29 longballs, but his hard contact rate has fallen more than six percentage points from last year’s 44.8% mark. It’s hard to imagine the persistent knee issues weren’t playing some role in those struggles, considering he mashed at a .285/.393/.595 clip between 2020-21.
It’s nevertheless tough to know what one can expect from Belt moving forward given his age and injury history. The career-long Giant is headed for free agency this offseason. Belt is making $18.4MM this year after accepting a qualifying offer last November, but he’ll certainly be facing a paycut during this trip to the open market.
San Francisco Giants Brandon Belt
Smart move. Guy had pirate legs.
Time to rebuild. Trade Webb to the Braves.
Mr Belt: The bubble has burst and the Giants will not contend during any MLB seasons you may feel you have left in your tank, whether those be with the Giants or another team. Time to walk off into the sunset while you can still walk !!
I believe that out of all the big contracts that Bobby Evans handed out, Brandon Belt’s was by far the worst. I feel sad just reading that he is being paid $18.4 million this year, as I had basically blocked it out of my mind – so it’s safe to say Brandon is laughing/hobbling all the way to the bank. I look forward to him being a forever Giant and seeing him on the field in future pregame ceremonies- primarily as it would mean he is no longer on the team. On a side note, if anyone watched the Will Clark pregame ceremony in July, Clark spoke about how he loved to run out every ground ball and pop out…and not more than 30 minutes later Belt hits a popup in the infield with runners on base, and he was already walking back to the dugout before the ball was even caught. I feel like that was an easy way of the baseball Gods showing us the difference between Belt and Clark in one quick moment. (Clark had plenty of injuries as well, so no excuses of at least running in the direction of first base).
belts been a solid player, even arguably an elite one the two years prior to this one, but im praying they move on from him this offseason. need someone who can stay in the lineup
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