Buster Posey

From BR Bullpen

Gerald D. Posey

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
School Florida State University
High School Lee County High School (Leesburg, GA)
Debut September 11, 2009

Born March 27, 1987 in Leesburg, GA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Buster Posey was the 5th pick of the 2008 amateur draft. He made his major league debut with the [[San Francisco Giants]¸on [^September 11]¸, [^[009 Giants|2009]].

Posey was on the US junior national team in 2004. In the 2004 World Junior Championship, he was 1 for 5 as the backup third baseman to Brandon Snyder. He was the only US hurler to start two games, going 0-1 with a 1.23 ERA, 7 strikeouts and 7 walks in 7 innings. He had a run and a RBI in the Bronze Medal game against South Korea.

Posey was 10-1 with a 1.53 ERA as a high school junior and hit .544, setting school records in hits (56) and RBI (46). He batted .462 as a senior with 14 homers, 48 runs and 40 RBI in 104 AB while going 12-0 with a 1.06 ERA and fanning 108. He set school records for career RBI (106), home runs (24) and runs (105). He also graduated 4th in a class of 302 with a 3.938 GPA. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Georgia and Baseball America named him as a second-team high school All-American utility man alongside Jordan Schafer and behind Zach Putnam and Colby Rasmus. Prospects Plus ranked him the #18 prospect in the country. Due to a strong college commitment, he was not picked until the 50th round of the 2005 amateur draft, when the California Angels selected him.

Posey batted .346/.433/.467 as a freshman at FSU and fielded .933 while playing shortstop. He moved to catcher for his sophomore season and hit .382/.453/.520 with 21 doubles, second in the Atlantic Coast Conference to teammate Tony Thomas Jr. Posey was 4th in the ACC in average and scored 66 runs while driving in 65. The only negative was a lack of pop as he only homered three times. Posey threw out 40.9% of attempted base-stealers. He joined Matt Wieters on the All-ACC team, splitting honors as the top catcher. Posey was named second-team All-American by Baseball America (behind Wieters) and first-team by Collegiate Baseball. He hit .281/.361/.375 for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League that summer. Baseball America rated him as the #23 prospect in the Cod League.

On May 13, 2008, Posey played all nine positions in a game. He was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 4 RBI as well. He started the contest at catcher then manned the infield spot from the second through fifth innings. After that, he appeared in the three outfield slots and on the mound. He struck out two batters he faced.

Posey dazzled in the 2008 college season, hitting .468 through June 3 with 24 home runs, a .572 OBP and 86 RBI, numbers that are rare in NCAA Division II let alone an elite Division I conference. He won the Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year award, Golden Spikes Award, Johnny Bench Award and Dick Howser Trophy. He was under consideration by both the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates, who held the first two picks in the 2008 amateur draft, making Tampa Bay's final two list and Pittsburgh's final three list. Both teams passed and he went 5th in the draft.

Posey debuted as a pro with the AZL Giants on August 22, going 1 for 5 with a run against the AZL Rangers. A little over a year later, on September 11, 2009, he made his major league debut for the Giants against the Los Angeles Dodgers.