Buster Posey went 4 for 4 yesterday in the San Francisco Giants’ series finale against the Oakland Athletics, helping to propel his team to a sweep, an 11-1 record in their last 12 games, and a mere 1 game deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But Posey’s four hits weren’t even the most impressive part of his game on Sunday. What made the biggest difference in the Giants’ 4-3 victory was Posey’s two runners thrown out on the base paths (including this gem that may have saved the game). Watching Posey be a force both ways has become a routine that Giants’ fans are growing more and more accustomed to.
For the duration of Posey’s career, he has been referred to as the best offensive catcher in the game, but a step behind the likes of Yadier Molina, Brian McCann, and others defensively. Posey’s defensive game has often been criticized, often times wrongfully so, for his lacking numbers in base runners thrown out and passed balls. This season however, things have changed and drastically so.
Before getting into Posey’s improved defensive numbers and metrics, let’s take a moment to appreciate his dominance at the plate thus far this season as well.
After the 4 for 4 effort yesterday afternoon, Posey’s batting average is now sitting at .328, good for 4th in the NL and 6th in the MLB. In his last 28 games, he’s hitting .400 with a 178 OPS+. His slash line of .328/.390/.501 is head and shoulders above every other qualified catcher (Yasmani Grandal doesn’t have enough PA’s to be qualified). Combine that with his 67 RBIs which put him at 3rd in the NL and his 4.0 fWAR (9th in baseball, 1st among catchers), and Posey is having his best season since 2012 when he won the MVP.
But the difference between Posey this season vs his 2012 self is that Posey wasn’t a great defensive player back then. He’s made substantial improvements to that department this season.
First, an obvious one. Posey has committed zero errors in the field this season at either catcher (66 games) or first base (26). Clearly that’s great, but to put that into perspective Yadier Molina has made four and Molina is often the player fans have compared Posey with. Errors aren’t by any means the best measurement for a fielders’ contributions, but it is worth noting.
Historically, Posey has been given flack for his below average arm behind the dish. In his last three seasons he threw out exactly 30% of base stealers each year, a mark that does not compare favorably with the elite defensive catchers of the game. This season however, he has upped that mark to 47% having thrown out 14 of 30 potential base stealers. That percentage is the best in baseball amongst all catchers. While it’s a relatively small sample size in comparison to the last three seasons, it’s clear that Posey has improved his quickness out of the squat.
In terms of more advanced saber metrics, Posey has made strides there as well. He ranks 3rd in defensive runs saved among catchers and 1st in good fielding plays runs saved. The latter of those numbers is less important, but since Posey ranked 1st in that category I had to throw it in there.
Lastly, Posey has turned into one of the best pitch framers in all of baseball. So far this season, he has gotten his pitchers 104 extra called strikes putting him 3rd in baseball for that category. The only two better pitch framers this season have been catchers with far worse offensive output. Consider the following catchers that Posey ranks ahead of in extra called strikes: Yasmani Grandal (100), Yadier Molina (73), Jonathan Lucroy (26), Russell Martin (-1), Brian McCann (-25), and Salvador Perez (-37). Pitch framing is a relatively new stat that MLB teams are just now starting to pay attention to and it’s one of the more subtle ones at that. None the less, it has been a big part of what has made Posey such a great defensive catcher this season.
So with Posey’s bat scorching hot and his defense saving games for the Giants it’s time to put Posey in the MVP conversation. His team is currently surging and given his play over the last month, that’s not a coincidence. Paul Goldschmidt and Bryce Harper are probably still the clear frontrunners for the award, but Posey’s last month of play should have the rest of the league taking note. We’ve all seen the power of MVPosey before.
One final note: In the last 365 days, Posey’s put together arguably his best stretch of baseball in a year ever. In itself it won’t win Posey any awards (besides his 3rd World Series, of course), but it’s at least an extended sample size of how great he has been of late.
Posey’s last 365 days: 143 games, 25 HRs, 103 RBIs, .335/.389/.529, and a 59:50 K:BB
Ye be warned, baseball.
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