SAN FRANCISCO–Buster Posey is probably miscast as a cleanup hitter.
A five-time All-Star and the Giants’ most consistent offensive player, Posey finished the season hitting .320 with an on-base percentage of .400, but he hit just 12 home runs and drove in just 67 runs.
Posey’s home run and RBI totals are his lowest ever for a season in which he’s played at least 140 games, and represent his worst marks since his 2011 season was cut short due to an injury.
At the Giants’ end-of-season press conference on Tuesday, manager Bruce Bochy addressed Posey’s drop off in power production, and admitted that the five-time All-Star didn’t have as much protection in the team’s order this season.
“I think if you look at, again, the doubles, he had three doubles one game there toward the end,” Bochy said. “Part of it is a little protection may help him, you know, if there was somebody at times with our injuries, they’re going to be careful with this guy. But when you have a .400 on-base and you hit .320 that works too. That’s pretty good. We’re not trying to put pressure on this guy, trust me. Because if you go up there and try to hit home runs, you’re going to compound the damage and we want him to be who he is. It’s easy to say, ‘Hey, we want you to hit more home runs,’ and more as a club, but those numbers will work.”
Bochy acknowledged that he didn’t have a robust group of power hitters to surround Posey in the Giants’ order, and said that depending on how the team navigates the offseason, Posey could hit in a different slot in the lineup next year.
“But as far as the order, that could move a little bit,” Bochy said. “Where we put him, he could be a better fit. But this year, it made the most sense to hit him clean up or put him in the three hole. I want to add, we’re talking about power here. And it looks like, wow, we’re just so far behind in everything, just to remind you, we have picked up a player in a lot of these World Series runs that really made a difference in our club, whether it was a Burrell, or a Cody Ross or a Morse or even a Marco Scutaro, that really helped change our club.”
After Sunday’s victory over the San Diego Padres, Posey said he was happy with his offensive numbers this season, but that he’s already determined to make improvements this offseason. While Posey’s average and on-base percentage were his best since 2012, the year he won the National League MVP, it’s possible Posey will attempt to increase his power numbers with a few tweaks.
“Overall, I’m pretty happy with it,” Posey said. “There’s obviously stuff that I already have in my head that I want to work on this winter to try to get better and that’s the great thing about baseball. I feel like you continually learn, you’re continually adjusting and I’m looking forward to doing that.”
During Tuesday’s press conference, Bochy and general manager Bobby Evans said that the Giants aren’t going to add a plethora of free agents this offseason, and indicated that one additional presence in the team’s lineup could make a big difference next year. Bochy said discussions have begun for how to address the lineup, but he’s hopeful that San Francisco’s offense will be more competitive next season.
“It’s not like you’re going to go out and you’re going to find two or three heart of the order guys,” Bochy said. “It’s not going to happen. But it could be a player, maybe two that could make a difference. So you know, these are things that we’re talking about now.”
As for Posey, the 2017 season was likely the most challenging of his baseball career. A winner at every level he’s played the sport, Posey was one of a small handful of Giants’ players who didn’t take a step back offensively this year. He said Sunday that he hopes the rest of his teammates take the offseason seriously and enter Spring Training determined to make improvements.
“It’s been a tough year,” Posey said. “We’ve had a lot of things that we’ve all got to get better at and hopefully everybody can take a little bit of time to decompress, get away, spend that time thinking about what it is specifically for them that they can do to help the Giants win more baseball games next year and come into Spring Training with a hungry attitude and a determination to get back to where we want to be.”