Buster Posey wants young SF Giants infielder to steal 30 bags in 2025

The SF Giants were one of the worst teams in 2024 when it came to stealing bases. San Francisco ranked 29th out of 30 teams with only 68 stolen bases last season, and it seems clear that new president of baseball operations Buster Posey wants to change that.

In a recent video posted to the SF Giants social media feed, he was asked a question by a Giants season ticket member about putting pressure on other teams by bunting more or trying to steal bases. Posey's response can be viewed below:

In Posey's response, he says that he wants the Giants to play a fearless brand of baseball. As an example of this type of baseball, he uses the young infielder Tyler Fitzgerald: "What we can do strategically is make it known to a guy like Tyler Fitzgerald, like, 'Fitzy, I want you stealing 30 bags this year. I don't want you worried about getting thrown out.'"

Posey did joke and say that would change if Fitzgerald got thrown out 15 times, but the point he is making is that he wants players to go out and play free rather than playing afraid.

The hypothetical goal of 30 stolen bases seems well within reach for a guy like Fitzgerald. In 96 games last season, the rookie shortstop stole 17 bases and was only thrown out 4 times. If he had a full season, it seems more than likely that he would be able to be able to swipe 30 bags.

Both Posey and manager Bob Melvin have spoken about how they want the team to be able to score runs in different ways in 2025. That means getting better at manufacturing runs by stealing bases, bunting a guy over, and hitting better situationally.

The Giants showed mild improvement when it came to stealing bases in 2024 by not being dead last in steals like they were in 2023. But there was still a large stolen base gap for the Giants, meaning they allowed a lot more stolen bases than they stole.

If the Giants can close that gap in 2025, it could go a long way towards making them a more competitive team.

That could all start with Fitzgerald being a guy who can steal 30 bases for the team. Couple that with the speed of Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos, and maybe even someone like Ha-Seong Kim if they can land him in free agency, and the Giants have some respectable speed on their team. Now let's see if Posey and Co. can deliver on this faster and more fearless version of the Giants.