It was not long ago that the San Francisco Giants looked down and very nearly out.
Just three weeks back, they trailed their National League West rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, by five and a half games and had suffered through a stretch in which they won only five of 18 games. At that point, people were wondering whether the Giants would even make the play-offs, let alone win their division.
Difficult times such as these call for a team’s best players to take control and lead the way. Step forward, Buster Posey.
Since August 12, the Giants have gone 14-7 to haul themselves back into the play-off picture and trim the gap on the Dodgers to two games. Several factors have combined to revive the team's fortunes – Angel Pagan's return from injury, Madison Bumgarner's excellent pitching, Yusmeiro Petit taking up the slack left by Tim Lincecum's struggles – but few have had the impact of Posey.
The catcher/first baseman’s form of late has bordered on obscene. In his last 16 games, Posey is hitting .508 (33 for 65) with seven home runs, 19 runs scored and 21 runs batted in. He has five multi-hit games in a row, raising his batting average 20 points to .310 in the space of 10 games.
He leads the Giants in batting average, homers (20), RBI (79), on-base percentage (.361) and slugging (.494). In short, he has loaded the team on his back and carried it back into the reckoning for a play-off place that once looked far from certain.
“It’s hard to be surprised by him now,” Bumgarner told the San Jose Mercury News. “He’s unbelievable. He’s one of the best hitters in the game. He doesn’t have that reputation for nothing.”
In fact, Posey’s performance has put Giants manager Bruce Bochy in something of a pickle. For much of the season, he has posted better batting numbers while playing first base versus catcher.
Posey’s versatility could allow him to move to first. That would give promising catching prospect Andrew Susac more playing time and allow Posey, 27, to save wear and tear on his body.
“It’s easier on the body playing first base,” Bochy said. “There’s a lot of activity at first base and you can’t drift mentally, but it is easier … It makes sense that he probably should hit a little bit more.”
After Sunday night’s game against Detroit, the Giants play their final 19 games against NL West teams, including six against the Dodgers – three at home, three on the road.
Since 13 of those games are against Arizona and San Diego, two teams well below .500, the Giants have their play-off fate in their hands. Atlanta, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh are also hovering at the top of the wild-card chase, but none have a player like Posey driving them toward glory.
pfreelend@thenational.ae
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