Age is just a number to San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey.
The 34-year-old has been in the league for 12 years, and he’s still playing like he’s in his prime.
For a catcher, that’s an especially remarkable feat.
No one on the diamond takes more wear and tear over the years than catchers do.
Posey has kept himself in fantastic shape over the years, and it’s paying off for him.
Buster Posey continues to amaze pic.twitter.com/djVI2V0C2F
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 12, 2021
Today, we’re going to appreciate just how good Posey still is.
The Florida State University product simply cannot be stopped no matter what comes his way.
Looking At His 2021 Season
This season, Posey is the best hitter on the best team in baseball.
The Giants are a force to be reckoned with, and Posey’s fingerprints are all over the team’s phenomenal season.
The veteran is batting .322 with a .952 OPS and 155 OPS+.
Over 80 games, he has homered 15 times and doubled 14 times.
He was named an All-Star for the seventh time in his career, and it’s safe to say that he was more than deserving of the honor.
Buster Posey 2012 slash line from his MVP season
.336 BA/.408 OBP/.549 SLG/.957 OPS
Posey 2021 slash line
.333 BA/.428 OBP/.549 SLG/.977 OPS
Obviously a lot fewer games this year, but the similarities are remarkable.
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) August 11, 2021
One of the most impressive things about Posey is his ability to do damage against both left-handed and right-handed pitchers.
This season, he has a slash line of .298/.398/.510 against righties and an insane slash line of .385/.461/.603 against lefties.
The future Hall of Famer is showing no signs of slowing down, and in the context of this season, that’s very important.
The Giants want their season to end with a World Series title.
Looking At His Career On The Whole
Posey is simply one of the greatest catchers the game has ever seen.
As mentioned, he has been in the league for a very long time, so keep in mind we have a very large sample size to evaluate.
For his career, he has a .303 batting average, .834 OPS, 129 OPS+, and 129 wRC+.
He is a seven-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, one-time Gold Glover, one-time MVP, and above all, he has three World Series titles to his name.
He’s looking to make it four this season.
Posey’s resume is very, very decorated, and he’s not even close to done yet.
He presumably has more All-Star selections in store, and he figures to add win another Silver Slugger this season.
Plus, he’s likely going to flirt with 2,000 hits by the time he’s ready to call it quits (he’s at 1,469 right now).
That could be another box to check on his legendary career.
What more could you ask for?
The Giants drafted and developed Posey themselves.
Back in 2008, no one could have known that the organization was going to draft a player who was going to change everything.
But that’s exactly what happened.
Wrap-Up
MLB fans need to appreciate Posey before his playing days come to an end.
He has become such a staple in the league that it’s easy to take him for granted.
But one of these days, he will decide to walk away from the game.
It will be the end of an era when it happens, and he’ll be heading straight from San Francisco to Cooperstown.
Is Buster Posey already a 1st ballot Hall of Fame lock?🔒
– 3x WS Champion
– 7x All Star
– 1x NL MVP
– 1x Gold Glove
– 4x Silver Slugger
– Rookie of the Year (2010)
– .303 Career BA
– 152 HR
– 701 RBI#MLB #SFGiants #MLB #BusterPosey pic.twitter.com/HlePksQUaQ— The Sports Catch (@TheSportsCatch) July 7, 2021
He will likely get into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, and that’s what he deserves.
NEXT: Grading Kris Bryant’s Time With San Francisco Giants So Far