Comparing Springs: Where the San Francisco Giants core finished

When the San Francisco Giants started Spring Training, as with any team, it was wise not to invest too much in their performance. As we start approaching the regular season though, it becomes more and more real.

The San Francisco Giants are facing up against guys they will actually see in a regular season, as opposed to future used car salesmen. Games become more competitive, the regulars are playing longer and the lineup becomes more apparent day-by-day.

The Giants “core” had a pretty varied Spring Training. Some have actually had the best Spring Training of their careers, while others have had their worst. Either way, it’s interesting to see how these numbers compare up to other Spring Trainings. It’s also interesting to see what each player’s regular season result is from their best (or worst) Spring Training. We’ll take a dive in and look at the potential Opening Day lineup and see where their comparative numbers are at.

Buster Posey

2019 Spring Training: .222/.263/.333, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 7 K, 2 BB
Average Spring Training: .331/.399/.504, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 4 SO, 4 BB

The Spring numbers were not there for Posey, capping off his worst Spring Training on record. For what it’s worth, in 2015 he produced a slash line of .292/.404/.479, making it his second statistically worst Spring Training. That season he finished 9th in MVP voting and earned his third Silver Slugger. This Spring, Posey started out pretty well from the gate and hit the bricks towards the middle of the month with a 12 at-bat drought, to which he answered with at least one hit in back-to-back games. Unfortunately, he cooled off towards the end of it all. The back stiffness will need to be kept an eye on though, but I expect Posey to have a “par for the course” year.