After playing at less than 100 percent all season, the San Francisco Giants catcher is making the smart decision for his future.
As the San Francisco Giants slide further and further out of the National League playoff picture, their postseason chances just took an even bigger hit.
The team announced Friday that star catcher Buster Posey has opted to have season-ending surgery on his injured right hip. Posey will be tasked with a 6-8 month recovery process, which could cause him to miss a big chunk of 2019 Spring Training.
The Giants entered Saturday’s action as losers of seven of their previous nine games. They trailed the Diamondbacks by nine games in the wild NL West race. Bruce Bochy’s veteran squad is also looking up at a nine-game deficit in the NL wild card race. More significantly, five teams stand between San Francisco and the second wild card spot.
So, in all reality, the Giants’ season is already effectively over. But any last bit of hope now vanishes as the franchise’s most decorated player hits the shelf. Posey is certainly closer to the end than the beginning of his career, but he’s still productive middle-of-the-order bat.
Even more important to the Giants is Posey’s leadership. A veteran presence who has seen the extreme ups and downs of a career in the majors is not easy to replace in the clubhouse.
Posey made the wise decision for the long-term, however, as he had struggled mightily in 2018 by his standards. A career .465 slugger, Posey’s slugging percentage was a measley .382 this year. He was on pace for career lows across the board, which can most certainly be attributed to the injury.
At a position where players’ lower bodies tend to deteriorate as they age, Posey’s health is of peak importance. Why not pull the plug on a lost season in an effort to get a head start on the recovery?
It might sting now for Giants fans, but if things go according to plan, they’ll be appreciative of this decision come April.