The San Francisco Giants have placed catcher Buster Posey on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 5, the club announced Friday. Posey injured his left thumb late in the game on July 4 in Arizona. He caught a pitch and immediately shook his glove hand while appearing to wince in pain.
Posey hasn't played since then, as he and the team were hoping this injured list stint could be avoided, but apparently it hasn't healed as quickly as they'd like. Additionally, an MRI has revealed a bone bruise. Given that he needs to catch high velocity pitches with that hand, he'll need it to be fully healed before he returns.
Posey was voted in to be the starting catcher for the National League in next Tuesday's All-Star Game, but instead he's going to have to withdrawal.
More importantly, this is a tough blow to the Giants. They enter Friday night with a one-game lead in the hotly-contested NL West over the Dodgers and a four-game lead over the Padres. Posey, who won the 2012 NL MVP, has played back to prime form this season at age 34 after opting out of the 2020 season. He's hitting .328/.421/.547 (165 OPS+) with 12 homers and 28 RBI in 58 games. That kind of production is awfully tough to replace, even in short stints.
With Posey out, the Giants will turn to the duo of Curt Casali and Chadwick Tromp for catching duties. Catching prospect Joey Bart, who saw some time in the majors last season and had one plate appearance this year, remains on the Triple-A roster for now, where he's hitting .338/.400/.581 with eight homers and 33 RBI in 35 games.
