Buster Posey's Impact

It's no revelation that Buster Posey has a significant impact for the Giants - both at the plate and behind it - but because of his brutal injury last season, no one knows if his impact will be as big as it was his rookie season or if he'll be able to stay on the field enough.

The Giants' offense was terrible last season for many reasons: Aubrey Huff's production massively declined; Freddy Sanchez was always hurt; Cody Ross' postseason heroics didn't carry over; Andres Torres was banged up and much less productive; Miguel Tejada.

While all of these were big reasons for a drop in offensive production, the loss of Posey had the biggest effect.

It's hard to quantify how much of an impact he had on the pitching staff or if he handled the staff much better than Eli Whiteside or Chris Stewart but he without question is a better hitter than both Whiteside and Stewart combined. Losing Posey meant replacing the Giants' cleanup hitter with guys who often didn't look like they should be in the majors. [Stewart and Whiteside are good examples of "replacement" players in the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistic].

I and every other Giants' fan hope Posey is fully recovered but it's hard to be hopeful when you see how bad the injury was and that he plays catcher, the most physically tolling position in baseball.

If the Giants don't overuse Posey - and make sure Scott Cousins isn't within 100 feet of him - I expect him to have at least a decent year because he is so crazy talented. There are so many questions surrounding his injury, though, and the uncertainty is not easy on anyone involving the Giants. November 1, 2010 seems so long ago.

2012 Lineup

Here is mlbdepthchart.com's projected lineup for the Giants this upcoming season:

1 CF Angel Pagan
2 LF Melky Cabrera
3 3B Pablo Sandoval
4 C Buster Posey
5 1B Aubrey Huff
6 RF Nate Schierholtz
7 2B Freddy Sanchez
8 SS Brandon Crawford


I think it's obvious that future generations will look at this lineup and remember it as one of the best. OK, maybe not so much, but a man can dream.

I think Freddy Sanchez should be the second place hitter and it's likely that he will be in that spot once the season starts because that's where he's been his whole Giants career. I see Cabrera as more of a 5th hitter, anyway.

Also, Brandon Belt needs to be in this lineup. Yes, he struggled mightily last season but we need to see if he will become the solid hitter so many expect him to be, or if he'll continue to struggle. I don't care if he plays 1st base or OF but he needs to be in the starting lineup at the start of the season. Pinch-hitting and/or an occasional start isn't sufficient playing time to really tell how good he is.

I think Schierholtz can become a solid everyday starter but don't expect him to light it up. I'm not sold on Crawford at all and we might see Ryan Theriot at shortstop fairly early in the season (yippee).

There are a lot of "ifs" in this lineup and I can see anywhere from a top-half MLB offense to the worst in baseball. Hopefully, the new acquisitions and the young guys outperform the expectations of the pessimistic/realistic.

WHASSSSUP

This is a blog about the San Francisco Giants. Nothing special. I've been a fan since I was a kid and still follow them religiously. November 1, 2010 was one of the best days of my life and I hope the Giants stop hitting like crap and get back to where they were two years ago.

I'm currently a sophomore journalism major at the University of Oregon, so this probably won't be on the level of The McCovey Chronicles or other professional blogs, but my goal is to make this as entertaining and insightful as those blogs. Go Giants!

Follow me on Twitter @vflores415.