Buster Posey Called Up by the San Francisco Giants

Hitting phenom Buster Posey has been recalled by the San Francisco Giants from their Triple A affiliate in Fresno. As of Friday May 28th, Posey was hitting .349 with a .442 OBP and a .995 OPS, playing catcher and some first base for the Fresno Grizzlies. During 2010 Spring Training, Posey hit .315 with a .351 OBP, but was not chosen to go north with the big league team.   

A shortstop and catcher at Florida State, Posey was the first draft pick by the Giants in the first round of the 2008 Rule 4 Draft.

The Giants appeared to be doing their best to keep Posey in the minors through the month of June, which would have made him ineligible to be Super Two arbitration eligible under Major League Baseball rules. If Posey sticks with the Giants the remainder of 2010 (all of 2011 and 2012), and he continues to hit as he has done in the minors, the Giants are potentially looking at a $4-5 million arbitration with him in 2013.

Posey will certainly play a great deal at first base, with first baseman Aubrey Huff likely moving to left field on a permanent basis. Posey will also catch when Bengie Molina is rested. Whether the Giants will eventually send down back-up catcher Eli Whiteside or back-up first baseman Travis Ishikawa remains to be seen. Whiteside has been a big contributor to the Giants as Jonathan Sanchez’s personal catcher, and is batting .286. Ishikawa is batting .200 and has not been an offensive factor this year or during the 2009 season.

In 2010, the San Francisco Giants are 25th of 30 MLB teams with 192 runs scored. National League Western Division rival Arizona is 6th of 30 teams with 247 runs scored; the Dodgers are 8th with 237 runs scored.

For the past four years, the Giants have had outstanding pitching but little run production and no power. In 2008, the Giants were 29th out of 30 MLB teams with 640 runs scored; in 2009 the team scored 657 runs to finish 26th of 30 teams.

Buster Posey will have to play with high expectations that his bat will jumpstart the Giants offense and that he can quickly develop into a Major League catcher. The Giants are currently 25-22 in third place in the NL West, two and a half games behind the San Diego Padres.