Brandon Belt Recalled to Giants Thursday

Brandon Belt is returning to the Giants.

Unfortunately, Belt's return to the bigs comes under the cloud of sad news, as his promotion is spurred by Darren Ford heading to the disabled list and catcher Buster Posey all but guaranteed to hit the DL as well.

The irony, of course, is that Belt was considered to be a potential "2011 version of Posey," in that he could spark the team's offense.

Belt still can do that, but he'll only be doing so without the actual Buster Posey in the lineup -- multiple reports indicate that something in Posey's leg is broken (either the leg itself or the ankle) and that he's also dealing with ligaments.

Chris Stewart, a catcher at Fresno, has also been recalled to the big-league club according to Bruce Bochy, who spoke with the guys on KNBR Thursday morning.

But where will Belt play?

Well, it seems highly unlikely that he's coming up to be a defensive substitution for Aubrey Huff, and it's even LESS likely that Huff can get behind the plate and catch.

So expect to see Belt in left field, with Eli Whiteside and Stewart to handle the catching duties.

That's a boost to the team's offense, but it's unlikely that the combination of the two can even remotely make up for the loss of Posey.

Which makes the ascension of Belt somehow even more pressure-filled the second time around.

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