BASEBALL

Giants veteran catcher Buster Posey not to play 2020 MLB season

6 years ago - Sportingbase

San Francisco Giants veteran catcher Buster Posey of Leesburg, Georgia has decided to sit out the 2020 Major League Baseball season. Posey and his wife Kristen recently adopted identical twin girls, and due to the fact they were both born prematurely, he believed it was in their family’s best interest to not play to prevent him from capturing coronavirus.

Last season for the Giants, Posey batted .257 with seven home runs and 38 runs batted in. In 405 at bats, Posey scored 43 runs, had 104 hits, 24 doubles, 34 walks, a .320 on base percentage, a .368 slugging percentage, 149 total bases, one sacrifice bunt, and one sacrifice fly.

At age 33, there is no doubt the offensive statistics for Posey seem to be going down. With the loss of Posey, expect to see rookie catcher Tyler Heineman get a significant amount of playing time behind the plate this season for San Francisco. In 2019, Heineman of Pacific Palisades, California had 11 at bats and three hits. Two of those hits came against the New York Mets and were for extra bases. One was a double, and the other was a home run.

Posey has played 11 seasons with the Giants and has put together a Hall of Fame career to date. While playing the most challenging defensive position in the game, he has been a six-time all-star, two-time World Series champion, 2010 National League Rookie of the Year, and the 2012 National League Most Valuable Player. During the 2012 MLB season, Posey led the senior circuit in batting average at .336. He became the second San Francisco Giants player to win the National League batting title, as he followed Barry Bonds, who had a .370 batting average in 2002, and a .362 batting average in 2004.