The original plan for the Giants this year was to let Buster Posey catch most of the time and then spend every few days playing first base. The idea there was to give him some rest from the rigors of catching and keep his bat in the lineup.
But lately, the Giants have decided to flat-out rest Posey. As Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out on Tuesday, Posey's only played first base twice in May and he hasn't even played there since May 11 in Arizona.
Apparently Bruce Bochy believes he needs to not just max out his defensive infield, but also make sure Posey's getting enough of a breather on a regular basis. And Posey says he believes it's helping.
"I guess yes and no," Posey said. "It's definitely not a bad thing, especially where we are at this point in the season. I'm hoping as the season progresses, I'll feel better and better and play more games in a row. I'm happy with the amount I've played so far. I've played as much as I hoped and more."
Now, it may be just a coincidence, but May 11 was when a scout told CSNBayArea.com's Giant Insider Andrew Baggarly that Posey was looking "worn down."
From May 1 to May 11, Posey posted a .184/.205/.184 line with seven hits (no extra base hits), zero homers, three walks and 12 strikeouts. That was in 10 games, with 39 plate appearances.
From May 12 to last night's extra-inning win over the Brewers? Posey's batting .300/.405/.467 with one homer, two doubles, eight RBI, five walks and just one strikeout. That was in eight games, with 37 plate appearances.
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So I'd say, yeah even if the sample size is a little small, the rest is working.
