PHILADELPHIA — Nobody on the Giants has plate awareness quite like LaMonte Wade Jr., who led the team in on-base percentage the past two seasons despite a batting average well below .300.
Wade’s keen eye has enabled him to draw walks at a much greater pace than any of his teammates, an asset that Buster Posey embraced when deciding to open the 2025 season with Wade as the primary first baseman and leadoff hitter.
Unlike in recent years, however, Wade isn’t reaching base at a high clip, and because he’s not hitting up to par, either, his offensive production has been minimal. Wednesday, while the Giants collected 13 hits in an 11-4 win over the Phillies, Wade went 0-for-3, the only man in the lineup without a hit, though he walked twice.
“I’ve been working. It’s just frustrating when you can’t translate your work into the game,” Wade said. “I’m confident it’ll come back. I’m not concerned that I’m not going to get that feeling back. Once I get that feeling back, I’ll be fine.”
Wade is hitting a mere .102 with a .211 on-base percentage. It’s a tiny sample size, with just 9% of the season in the books, and the numbers could turn in a hurry. Tyler Fitzgerald is a perfect example. He was hitting .179 on April 8 and then went on a tear, going 11-for-23 in six games — including three hits Wednesday — to boost his average to .314.
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At the start of the current 10-game trip, manager Bob Melvin removed Wade from the leadoff spot and batted him sixth, and Wade immediately responded with a key two-run, first-inning double to help ignite a 9-1 win in the opener at Yankee Stadium.
It’s his only hit in his four games on the trip, but he has six walks, one of which helped start a six-run rally Monday night. He’s 1-for-11 at the plate and is determined to be far better.
“I’ve got to clean up a lot of stuff,” said Wade, whose .380 OBP last year was tied for eighth highest in the majors among hitters with at least 400 plate appearances. “I’m not helping at all at the plate. I’ve got to get better. I’ve got to hold myself accountable. I’m not happy with the way I’m playing. I’m happy with the way our team is playing [13-5 record, second-best in the majors], but I’ve got to pick up my part of it, too. I’ve got to do my job, and I’m not doing my job.”
It should be noted that several other Giants hitters haven’t been living up to expectations, starting with Willy Adames, Patrick Bailey, and Heliot Ramos.
However, the Giants have flourished with their pitching-and-defense blueprint while receiving enough timely hitting to maintain one of the majors’ top records. Jung Hoo Lee (tops in the majors in doubles), Wilmer Flores (tops in RBIs), and Mike Yastrzemski have been the steadiest contributors from the season’s outset. Matt Chapman, snapping his 0-for-27 funk Monday, is tied for the majors’ lead in walks.
“LaMonte hasn’t hit his stride yet, but he will,” Melvin said. “It’s just a matter of time with him. He’s going to be fine. He’s got a track record. He’s a good hitter with a good eye. He’s just off to a slow start. We’ve had a lot of guys going through some tough times.”
For Wade, it’s not just about making better contact — while his walk rate is down, his strikeout rate is up — it’s also about not chasing pitches out of the strike zone. His strength is his ability to quickly determine whether a pitch is in the zone or not, and sometimes he chases pitches he laid off in recent years.
Wade has swung at 22.9% of the pitches outside of the strike zone, slightly up from 19.7% last year and 17.6% in 2023, according to FanGraphs. There’s also the matter of his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) that’s a miniscule .138 — low BABIPs can indicate bad luck. His 2024 BABIP was .331.
“I’ve got to get back to what I do,” Wade said. “I’ve got to get on base. I’ve got to take my walks. I’ve got to stop chasing those pitches. I had an opportunity to get three walks [Monday] night instead of two. Instead of a strikeout, I chased a pitch, getting inside of myself instead of doing my job. At the end of the day, I’ve got to do my job.”
Wade sat out Tuesday’s game because the Phillies started a lefty, Jesus Luzardo, but proudly wore No. 42 as did every other big-leaguer on Jackie Robinson Day, 78 years after the Brooklyn Dodgers’ infielder broke baseball’s color barrier.
Wade appreciates baseball history and particularly Robinson’s impact on the game and has had connections with Giants legends — he built a nice relationship with Willie Mays, won the Willie Mac Award, and takes hitting pointers from Barry Bonds.
Last June, he played a role in MLB’s tribute to the Negro Leagues when the Giants and Cardinals played at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field, though he was inactive because of a hamstring injury. He brought out the lineup card, accompanied Bill Greason on the field when Mays’ Black Barons teammate threw out the first pitch, and allowed his jersey from that game — the Giants wore replica San Francisco Sea Lions uniforms as an homage to the former Negro League team — to be sent to the Hall of Fame.
“April 15th is always a special day in the baseball community, especially as an African-American,” Wade said. “He’s the one who paved the way for me to be here to be able to talk to you today. A great player but also a great person with what he did off the field and in the community. I think that speaks more about him than what he did on the field, everything he had to go through just to play the game.
“Today, to be an African-American player, to come in and feel comfortable and to not have any stress and worries about the type of stuff that Jackie went through is because of him. I never take this day for granted. It makes you realize things could be way worse. It’s a day to be thankful and grateful for what he did.”
Wade starts against right-handers so likely will be out of the lineup in Thursday’s series finale when Cristopher Sanchez pitches for the Phillies. Casey Schmitt starts at first against lefties and also didn’t get off to a quick start, hitting .211 with a .250 OBP.
As for top first-base prospect Bryce Eldridge, who sustained a wrist injury late in spring training, he’s still working at the Giants’ Arizona facility and might soon join one of the farm teams.
Melvin and the front office are exercising patience with Wade because they know his skillset and believe he’ll come around and produce. The Giants are able to absorb any inefficiencies in the lineup and pitching staff because they’re winning. For example, Robbie Ray walked five batters Wednesday and gave up four runs in four innings, but the lineup produced a couple of four-run rallies and the bullpen pitched five shutout innings, including two by Lou Trivino, who earned his first win since 2022.