On May 25, 2011, Buster Posey‘s world was turned upside down, literally. He was steamrolled at home plate by Scott Cousins of the Marlins. The hit was legal and effective, as Posey couldn’t handle the ball and Cousins was safe.
Today it was reported that Posey has a broken bone in his leg and that he will miss some time. Toss in possible knee ligament damage and he’s looking at missing the entire 2011 season.
The rookie of the year last year, Posey had a feeling something like this would happen. In an article in USA Today a few days ago, Posey commented on the increasing number of times he;s been tagged by foul balls:
Oh, one week it’s the physical part, the next week it’s the mental side.
The article went on to discuss the fact that the Giants need to think about moving Posey from the catcher’s position and into the field. The goal was to protect him from incidental and future injuries. The physical abuse he’s suffered in the catcher’s position seems to be out of the norm.
Manager Bruce Bochy said the following about the amount of abuse Posey was taking:
He’s taken more than I’ve ever seen
Think about that. Bochy is a former MLB catcher.
How long will Posey be out? No one knows, but the signs of moving him were there. No guarantee he doesn’t get hurt playing first or right field, but we know for sure collisions would have been further down the list of worries.