John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday evening that Giants catcher Buster Posey will likely undergo season-ending surgery to repair an ailing hip that has been bothering him all season.
On Wednesday Shea joined Murph & Mac to further discuss the report, and told the guys that he expects Posey will be ready for spring training in February of next year.
“Yeah, definitely,” Shea said when asked if he’ll be ready. “In fact when I’m told about (Corey) Seager and (Jacoby) Ellsbury, just look at what those guys are looking at. Seager had his surgery August 7, and he’s supposed to be full strength for spring training, he’s supposed to do baseball activities in January. So he’s supposed to be 100 percent recovered by spring training. Now (Posey’s) is two to three weeks after (Seager’s) was performed and if it’s the same timetable maybe it pushes Posey late January, full baseball activities maybe early February.”
Shea also said based on his conversation with Posey, he doesn’t expect him to move to first base in a full time role.
“It’ll be monitored, it’ll be watched closely. This is a guy who is in the squat 120, 130 times, plus pregame, plus six or seven pitches between innings, 150-plus times a day, 13 innings the other night didn’t help. I asked Posey last night ‘Until the surgery do you see yourself playing more first base?’ He said, ‘no.’ That’s Posey. He wants to catch. He’s more valuable to the team when he’s healthy as a catcher.
“His numbers aren’t indicative of a first baseman who hits 40 home runs a year. His value is behind the plate working with pitchers. Derek Rodriguez has done wonderfully being tutored by Posey, and Suarez. These guys come in and they have a guy who’s been in three World Series who kind of led those teams, the common denominator in all those three World Series runs, you know the man behind the plate. So his value is as a catcher, his numbers tend to be higher, especially his batting average, as a first baseman when he’s off his legs, when he’s not involved in all these pregame meetings, when he’s not in the squat. It’s something he wants to do, it’s something the organization is behind, so I don’t see him suddenly becoming a first baseman and moving Belt to left any time soon.”
Listen to the full interview below.