Duane Kuiper was walking around his family’s Wisconsin farm when we got on the phone today, and before we started recording this podcast episode he told me he was watching workers take down one of the grain silos as the family prepares to sell the property.

That put both of us in a little bit of a thoughtful mood, which, of course, is never terrible for a good podcast conversation.

In this episode, we discussed Kuiper’s evolving views on Brandon Belt — Kuiper admitted he’s been frustrated with some of Belt’s body language and lack of aggression at the plate but said he’s realized that asking Belt to be anything other than himself is counterproductive at this point.

Also: Belt is currently leading the Giants in home runs (11), RBIs (29), walks (tied with Andrew McCutchen at 26), batting average (.317) and on-base percentage (.416) — and leading all Giants regulars in slugging percentage (.593) and OPS (1.009).

We also talked about the Kuiper farm, about life on the road working with Mike Krukow all these years, about the advice Duane has given Jeremy Affeldt and Javy Lopez as they get more work on the broadcasts, and about the Giants’ situation now, 50 games into the season.

(Top photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)