SAN FRANCISCO -- Bruce Bochy is remarkably patient during his pre- and post-game sessions and generally does his best to answer every question. Sometimes, though, the Giants manager can't say what he wants to.
For instance, Bochy was asked Tuesday why he continues to hit a slumping Buster Posey in the heart of the lineup. Here's what Bochy probably wanted to say:
"HAVE YOU SEEN OUR ROSTER?! HAVE YOU SEEN THE STATS OF OUR OTHER REGULARS?! WHO ELSE AM I GOING TO HIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ORDER?!"
Instead, Bochy calmly explained that he still views Posey as one of his best choices in part because he still feels the catcher brings a presence to the three or four spot, and remains a dangerous option when opposing pitchers look in for the sign.
"You're looking at a guy who can do different things," Bochy said. "Buster is a guy you can hit-and-run with, he's a contact guy. You look at the numbers and say, 'Why is he hitting there?' but as a club we're not hitting well, let's be honest. We're around .220."
The Giants are last in MLB with a .224 team average. Posey, who is out of Wednesday's lineup against the Colorado Rockies, is at .235 and just 5-for-35 over his last nine games, but that's pretty much par for the course for Giants hitters.
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Brandon Belt, who is hitting leadoff for a second straight game, has a .226 average, but has so many walks that he leads the team with an OBP of .354. All of the regulars are under .250 in terms of batting average, and six of the eight usual starters have an OPS under .700. That includes Posey, who is at .661 yet still leads Joe Panik, Steven Duggar and Brandon Crawford.
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Evan Longoria (.684) and Kevin Pillar (.699) have hit in the heart of the lineup a lot, but neither has hit consistently enough to supplant Posey. Bochy does have some new options in Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson, and they respectively hit in the two and four spots on Tuesday, with Posey right in between them. But they are still relatively unproven.
Perhaps things will change in the second half as the Giants take a look at different options with a roster that likely will look quite different. But for now, Bochy has no plans to move his franchise catcher down in the order. The alternatives simply don't seem any better to the staff.
