Buster Posey returned before his bat did.
The catcher, playing in his eighth game back from the injured list, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Giants’ 2-0 loss to the Rockies at Oracle Park on Monday, the No. 3 hitter not showing much signs of life in a lineup that lacked a pulse.
It dropped his batting average to .239 and on-base percentage below .300 (.299). Since returning from his hamstring injury, Posey has had just one extra-base hit — a double — and is 5-of-32 (.156).
These slumps, from an excellent defensive catcher, are easier to digest at the bottom of the lineup, but that’s a place Posey has rarely ventured. He’s hit No. 3 or 4 in each start since returning, and has batted elsewhere just five games this season (once second, four times ninth).
A stalled Giants offense could eventually look to shuffle Posey around, Bruce Bochy said, while cautioning he wants to give his longtime leader a longer leash.
“We move guys. We move a few guys — they aren’t really locked in,” the manager said after the Giants mustered six hits — none with runners in scoring position — against Colorado. “We can look at him, I know we set the bar pretty high up. Let’s give him some time here. He was on the [IL] for a little while and before that, you could see it, he was getting his timing and everything. But he still could do some things with the bat.”
The San Francisco lineup did have a different flavor Monday, when Joe Panik was bumped to No. 7 and intriguing new addition Alex Dickerson was raised to No. 2. Batting leadoff was Mike Yastrzemski, as Bochy tried a top of the lineup that seemed more engineered for a hopeful future than the troubling present. The duo combined to go 2-for-7.
Bochy emphasized that Posey was not the only culprit Monday, when only Panik got on base more than once and cleanup-hitter Pablo Sandoval went 0-for-3.
“We got a few guys that had a rough day tonight,” Bochy said.