Hunter Pence Needs Better Season With San Francisco Giants

Hunter Pence spent the first four and a half years of his MLB career with the Houston Astros and never got a chance to win a World Series. Pence moved to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011 and last season got traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he finally won that elusive title. The veteran enters his first full season in San Francisco in 2013, but not without some questions.

Pence hit just .219 last year in 59 games for the Giants and while he did hit 24 combined home runs during his two stops, the right-fielder can’t hit that poorly again this season. San Francisco only has so many options offensively so Pence has to get back to hitting around .285 with 20-25 home runs.

The Giants will only have a chance to win another title if that happens. Pence is too good of a hitter to struggle as badly as he did at the end of last season.

Pence’s struggles were in the postseason as well, so it didn’t stop when the regular season ended. I know that Pence can be a quirky guy at the plate with his odd approach, but he has been getting the job done in his career doing that.

2013 may become a season where Pence is expected to do even more for the team, especially with a pitching staff that may not be as good as they have been in the past. Pence may only be hitting 30-years old, but he needs to become a veteran leader on this Giants team.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.