Half-serious. The question was half-serious.

But, look, we all know how the Giants’ batting order is struggling to produce runs. So has manager Bruce Bochy ever thought about adding punch by inserting one of his better-hitting pitchers into the lineup?

“As a position player, you mean?” Bochy said Sunday.

Yes. As a position player.

In the outfield, say. Or at third base.

“Uh, no, to be honest with you,” Bochy said.

All right, so maybe the question wasn’t half-serious. It was just one-quarter serious.

Yet the way things are going, you never know.

The Giants keep hanging in there. They still lead their division at the All-Star break, despite scoring the second-fewest runs in the National League, with the fourth-worst batting average. A trade for more offense seems mandatory. But what if there’s no trade? At what point might their manager do something drastic?

All-Star pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, for instance, is batting .250 for the Giants. That is almost 10 points better than infielder Miguel Tejada’s .241 average.

Fellow starter Madison Bumgarner, for another instance, owns a .226 on-base percentage, which is better than the .220 on-base percentage that Bill Hall owned as a Giant before he was hurt last week while playing second base.

This isn’t about a small sample size, either. Batting right-handed, Vogelsong has seven hits in 28 at-bats. Batting right-handed, switch-hitting outfielder Andres Torres has two hits in 26 at-bats.

So. At a certain point, options must be considered. Right? Bochy is famous for tinkering with his batting order. He is rightfully praised for his correct “hunches.” But the most unappreciated thing about Bochy is how his “hunches” are actually the result of very hard work to determine which hitters have the best chance of doing damage against a certain pitcher.

Bochy spends many an evening at his residence near AT&T Park mulling over potential lineup combinations. And he certainly realizes that using a pitcher as an outfielder or infielder is within the rules.

“I know it’s been done,” Bochy said. “I think Billy Martin did it once with the Yankees, using a pitcher as a D.H. I think he wanted to send a message or something.”

That is correct. On June 11, 1988, Yankees pitcher Rick Rhoden was used as a designated hitter against Baltimore. He went 0 for 1 with a sacrifice fly that drove in a tying run. Dave Righetti, the Giants’ pitching coach, was a member of that Yankees team. He recalled that Martin was following orders from owner George Steinbrenner, who was angry at some of his team’s everyday players — although Martin said at the time it was his choice.

For now, however, a similar move will not be Bochy’s choice.

“It’s risk versus reward,” Bochy said. “You wouldn’t want to take the risk of something happening when a pitcher was out there in the field. Also, you never want to embarrass anyone.”

Understood. Bochy wants to remain at least semi-popular with his troops. A manager doesn’t do that by telling an outfielder that he will be sitting down so that a pitcher can get four at-bats.

Let’s face it, though. The Giants basically have three batters who, when they approach the plate, are a consistent threat. The three are Pablo Sandoval, Nate Schierholtz and Cody Ross. They’re the only regulars batting above .245 — and they’re practically the entire offense.

Happened again Sunday night against the Mets. In the third inning, Sandoval drove in the Giants’ first run. Schierholtz drove in the second. Then up came Tejada “… who hit into a double play.

Could one of the Giants’ pitchers have done any worse? Jonathan Sanchez was batting .222 (with a .370 slugging percentage) when he went on the disabled list with tendinitis two weeks ago. That is 15 points better than the .207 average that infielder Mike Fontenot carried into his Sunday start. (Fontenot did go 3 for 5 to raise his average to .227.)

Of course, the pitcher would not merely have to bat. He would have to play somewhere in the field. But they have all done that, at some level. Vogelsong played shortstop and third base in high school and in college, at Kutztown University. He played every inning of every game there, pretty much.

“My toughest adjustment after being drafted,” Vogelsong said, “was not being out there when I wasn’t pitching.”

Likewise, Giants reliever Sergio Romo played shortstop and third base at Brawley Union High School in Southern California. Once, in a doubleheader, he threw a seven-inning no-hitter in the first game, then hit a home run in the second game while playing third base and catcher.

“I did OK playing third,” Romo said. “But I didn’t have much range. If someone hit the ball right at me, I could handle it. Otherwise, I was diving right and left.”

Neither Romo nor Vogelsong, let me hasten to add, was nominating himself to take the spot of any position player with the Giants. They would never want to show up one of their teammates. They are happy to be pitchers and only pitchers.

But what does a baseball team do when runs are harder to come by than happiness? Seriously? Or half-seriously?

Contact Mark Purdy at mpurdy@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5092.