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Kuiper: Posey’s hip will probably bother him the rest of his career

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Buster Posey is having a solid season so far in 2018. Still, he’s below his career averages in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, leading many to believe that the veteran catcher may not be at 100 percent.

The always stoic Posey would never admit to such things, even to veteran Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper. However, Kuiper told Murph & Mac on Tuesday that he believes Posey is dealing with a hip issue, one that may plague him for the rest of his career.

“Well he’s not going to tell anybody what’s going on health-wise,” Kuiper said. “He’s not told us, he’s not told us if he feels great. As a matter of fact, Buster’s not a guy who hangs around that clubhouse a whole lot anyway. He’s kind’ve in the back room, the training room, he’s in the weight room, so he’s really private when it comes to how he feels physically.

“But this is the time of the year when catchers are going to be dinged up, which is why they really made it a priority to sign (Nick) Hundley in the offseason, because of the value of what Hundley can do offensively, and what he can do defensively. I think what we’re going to see as the years move on with Buster, is he’s probably going to catch a little less and his value is going to be (in addition to) offensively, how he handles the staff and how he will help the next guy handle the staff.

“The one thing that we do know and Bruce Bochy has said it from time to time, is that his hip is bothering him, and it’s probably something that will bother him. It’ll probably bother him for the rest of his career. Hips are one of those things where they all of the sudden just don’t disappear.”

“You add up those games in postseason, the Giants probably averaged an extra 14 to 15 to 16 games at the end of every postseason for those three years. And those are high stress games too.”

Interestingly, Kuiper also believes that although Posey would be an excellent manager, once he retires, it could be awhile before we see him again.

“I mean he is a coach, that’s what he is,” Kuiper said. “Mike Krukow and I talked about it the other day, he would definitely be a great manager, but he’s not going to want to do that. Once Buster plays his last game, you’re not going to see Buster for awhile. I mean that’s just kind’ve the way he is, the way he raises his family. I mean he’ll tip his cap to you and it’s going to be sayonara. We may see him down the road, but I think he has other aspirations on what he wants to do.”

Listen to the full interview below. To hear Kuiper on Posey start from 7:10