What a healthy Buster Posey means for Giants in 2020

Giants catcher Buster Posey is coming off of a rough 2019, but early indications in spring training are that he is healthy and primed to rebound in 2020.

One of the biggest questions for the 2020 San Francisco Giants will be whether the face of the franchise, Buster Posey, can rebound from a career-worst year in 2019.

So far this spring, he has looked healthy for the first time in a long time. That bodes well for his 2020 outlook.

Last season, it was plain to everyone that Posey was still dealing with the lingering effects of the hip surgery he underwent the prior offseason. But now he has had a full offseason to heal and it has shown in his early spring training performance.

He has gone 9-for-20 with two doubles, one home run, and six RBI.

His lone home run was an impressive one, an opposite field line drive that was 107 mph coming off of his bat.

Announcer Mike Krukow pointed out during Sunday’s exhibition game against the Seattle Mariners that Posey has been able to utilize his lower body much more this spring, and he has been able to better drive the ball as a result.

Posey’s power has always come from his ability to use his lower body to load up and explode on the ball. With the hip injury seemingly less of an issue, we may see a little more pop from him in 2020, which would be a refreshing sight after he had just 31 extra-base hits in 445 plate appearances last year.

However, with Posey still having to play catcher, we can only hope that being in the crouch at the age of 33 will not result in another injury to his lower body. Perhaps with Joey Bart‘s impressive spring, we could see more of him behind the plate early in the 2020 season and more of Posey at first base sooner than expected.

For now, let’s all rejoice in the fact that Buster Posey appears to be genuinely healthy heading into the 2020 season.