Would the SF Giants have reached postseason with Buster Posey?

The SF Giants missed the 2020 postseason by a single game. If the team had had star catcher Buster Posey, would they have made it to October baseball?

I should start by saying this article is not advocating that Buster Posey should have played in the 2020 season. He made a 100% reasonable and safe decision to sit out the season out of an abundance of caution because he did not want to jeopardize the health of the twins he and his wife adopted. This is just one more what if in a year filled with those. Without anymore SF Giants baseball, that’s all we have left this year.

This article merely asks the question: would having Posey on the team have put them over the top in 2020? The answer is likely yes, and that reflects very well on the team looking ahead to 2021.

The Giants came into this bizarre, shortened season without the face of their franchise and they almost made it to the postseason. No one expected. Even hardcore Giants fans would have been surprised to hear they would have a chance at the postseason on the last day of the season.

In Buster’s absence, the team had predominantly three catchers fill in for him: Tyler Heineman, Chadwick Tromp, and Joey Bart. None were particularly productive offensively, although both Bart and Tromp had their moments. However, Tromp was the only one to consistently play well behind the dish. Heineman dealt with catcher’s interference issues early in the year and Bart seemed to struggle to get on the same page with his pitchers, especially Johnny Cueto.

We will see what happens in 2021, but assuming Buster Posey comes back and is healthy it will be great to have his presence behind the plate and in the lineup once again.

So while this hypothetical question may seem kind of pointless or sour grapes complaining, the reason I am asking it is to show that the Giants were able to exceed basically all of our expectations without one of their best players on the team.

The disappointment stings right now, but we should all be proud that our favorite team made a great run and was genuinely fun to watch for these past 60 games. After all, there were plenty of legitimate reasons to wonder whether this season could finish at all safely. Who knows what 2021 will hold, but many positives can be taken away from this season for the SF Giants.