On September 9, SF Giants shortstop Willy Adames hit his 28th home run of the season. It looked like a slam dunk that he was going to end the Giants’ 30-homer drought, but Adames remains stuck at 28 home runs, as he has not hit a home run since then.

This drought has been hanging over Giants hitters for years. Any time the Giants added a player who had done it before, the analysis usually shifted to “will he hit 30 home runs this season?” Joc Pederson, Michael Conforto, and Mitch Haniger are some of the names that come to mind, but none of the three got close.

Oracle Park does no favors for hitters, especially left-handed hitters. The cold nights, brutal winds, and large ballpark dimensions are not great conditions for hitting home runs.

Not surprisingly, the last Giants hitter to hit 30 home runs in a season was Barry Bonds in 2004. He reached that mark 14 times in his 22-year career. This includes hitting at least 30 home runs in his first 12 seasons with San Francisco. It did not matter what ballpark Bonds was hitting in, but it matters for a lot of hitters.

The Giants got close to ending the 30-homer drought in 2021. Brandon Belt launched 29 home runs in 97 games, but finished the year on the injured list after fracturing his thumb on a bunt attempt.

There will probably be no bunting in Willy Adames’ future. The veteran bat got off to a slow start, but he has rebounded nicely. He has put up an .834 OPS with 16 home runs and 35 RBI in 252 plate appearances during the second half of the season.

This includes a stretch of games at the end of August, where Adames recorded six home runs in 10 games. He remains stuck at 28 home runs with six games left in the season. The final two opponents are the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies, so he will have some favorable matchups to get to 30 home runs. Will he finally break the Giants’ 30-homer drought?

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