Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been bothered by a right knee issue of late, and doctors have recommended he undergo surgery (relayed by Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Belt and the Giants are expected to take 24 hours to determine how they plan to proceed.
Belt has been on the injured list a couple 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.
The 34-year-old conceded in his discussion with Slusser that he could undergone another surgical procedure. At the time, he expressed a belief he could delay any surgery until the offseason. It now seems that may not be the case, and if he indeed elects to go under the knife, his 2022 campaign will be cut short. The Giants have fallen five games under .500 and are virtually certain to miss the playoffs at this point, so shutting things down and turning his attention to next season may be prudent regardless.
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’s hitting 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.
If he needs surgery, he should get it now. It’s unlikely SF is making the playoffs, and having the surgery early allows more time to get ready for next year.
Sadly, you’re right about this season being a lost cause for the team. I didn’t want to believe that last year was a fluke in that so many players played above their average during the same season, but it was unlikely to happen again, especially with the older players. Not resigning Gausman didn’t help either, but hindsight is 20/20!
Losing Buster, too.
No “next year” with the Giants and not much for other clubs to like from an oft-injured aging (he’ll be 35 next season) player who’s glove is even beginning to clank . . .when he’s even on the field.
I’ll bet he retires.
Should be considering retirement if we’re keeping it 100…
Get the surgery. Giants are going nowhere in 2022.
Will give Belt a good start on 2023 with his new team.
Let’s get Yermin some at bats, he can play a little first.
He sucks at first base !!
Mercedes
He sucks at first base !!
Get robot knees. Dude will be unstoppable then.
Put it off for a month and then retire. It’s not just the knee that’s breaking down. He deserves better
It seems very likely to me that IS the knee – that’s broken down all facets of his game.
Very hard to players to call it quits this is a game they been around for years. Very hard to get here and a lot of people want to max it out. It is probably better to look back on that he got surgery and tried to max out his last ounce of baseball time than think about it someday looking back.
Sure a lot of teams would sign him as a back up player knowing he has been around a long time and nothing negative said about him. For that one last chance at a winning again.
Belt we loved ya. But we also hated you. Long walk into the sunset on his Giants Career seems about Right. Good Luck in whatever endeavor you Choose.
Retire
Belt should get the knee surgery than figure out how he feels afterward. If he feels good than go somewhere as a part time player. If possible go out healthy and on your terms.