Was Buster Posey the Best Catcher of All-Time?

With the baseball season just about to start, I get excited about what could come of this season. I also take time to look back and reflect at things that my favorite team (the San Francisco Giants) have accomplished in the past. For the Giants, I can’t help but look back at their dynasty in the early 2010s. At the heart of those teams and their success, you can’t help but notice Buster Posey.

People are always going to debate who the best player ever was. In my opinion, that’s Willie Mays, but that’s a topic for another time. Us fans will also always debate who was the best player at a certain position of all-time. When it comes to catcher, I can’t help but feel the answer to that question is possibly Buster Posey. The guy had an amazing career, even though it was a bit on the shorter side. Let’s take a look back at his career and see if I have a good case in this debate.

Rookie Season: 2010

The very first taste of the Majors that Buster Posey got was in September of 2009. We don’t count that as a rookie season as being called up when the rosters expand serve to give the coaches a look at what they have for the next season. The Giants ended up calling Posey up to the Big Leagues in late May of 2010. In his first game on May 29, 2010, Buster wen 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Not a bad way to introduce yourself to your teammates! This was just a sign of what was to come that season.

In 106 games played in the regular season Buster slashed a .305/.357/.505 (Avg/OBP/Slg). That is very impressive for a rookie. He also had 18 home runs to go along with his 67 RBI. For me, the hitting stat that stands out the most is that he struck out only 55 times in 406 at bats. That’s a strikeout rate of only 13.5%. Good things happen when you can put the ball in play, and many good things happened for Buster Posey in 2010.

Posey caught 76 games for the Giants in 2010. He threw out 23 base stealers, committed only 6 errors and allowed just 1 passed ball. He had a fielding percentage of .991 at catcher. Posey also played 30 games at first base this season and committed only 1 error while having a fielding percentage of .995. Needless to say, the kid proved he could play in the Big Leagues right away. The league rewarded him by giving him Rookie of the Year honors.

During the postseason run, Buster caught a total of 14 shutouts, which helped him earn the trust of the Giants elite pitching staff. His production at the plate dipped a little bit only slashing a .288/.354/.390 line while striking out 18 times in 59 at bats. His efforts, along with the rest of the team, helped the Giants win their first World Series title in 54 years.

MVP Season: 2012

Now if you know anything about Buster Posey, you’ll know that he suffered a major leg injury in May of 2011. His season ended early that year and prompted MLB to make a rule change for home plate collisions due to the injury a few years later. When Buster came back in 2012, he lit the league up. In the regular season Posey slashed a .336/.408/.549 line while hitting 24 home runs and adding 103 RBI. He also hit a whopping 39 doubles in 146 games that season.

In 114 games behind the plate, he had a .991 fielding percentage with 8 errors and only 2 passed balls. His percentage of base stealers caught dropped, but he still threw out 38 base stealers. He played another 29 games at first base and had a .991 fielding percentage with only 2 errors committed. Those are pretty consistent numbers with 2010. One of the highlights for him and the Giants was when Buster caught Matt Cain’s perfect game on June 13, 2012.

Buster was named to his first All-Star game this season and was rewarded with the 2012 regular season MVP. He led the Giants to a postseason birth where he hit a grand slam in a crucial Game 5 of the NLDS in Cincinnati, part of a postseason run where the Giants won the most elimination games in playoff history to that point. He then delivered a crucial home run in Game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers to help lead the Giants to their second World Series title in 3 years. At the end of the season the Giants awarded him a 9 year $167M contract. Posey was also name MLB Comeback Player of the Year.

The All-Star Years: 2013 – 2018

In 2013, Buster’s numbers dipped a bit, but he still put up great numbers. On the season he slashed a .294/.371/.450 with 15 home runs and 72 RBI. He stayed consistent at driving the ball into the gap adding another 34 doubles. His numbers in the field were as solid as ever with a .993 fielding percentage at catcher and a .986 at first base. He committed a total of 9 errors on the season while allowing only 3 passed balls. Posey was named to his second All-Star team.

Posey continued to show that he was a force to be reckoned with in 2014 slashing a line of .311/.364/.490. He hit another 22 home runs and added 89 RBI and 28 doubles. His defensive numbers were outstanding as he had a .994 behind the plate and a .996 at first. He committed a total of 6 errors and allowed a career high 5 passed balls. He helped the Giants win another World Series title over the Kansas City Royals.

2015 was another stellar year for Buster as he slashed a .318/.379/.470 line with 19 home runs, 95 RBI and 28 doubles. He was absolutely incredible defensively this season with a .998 fielding percentage behind the plate and a 1.000 fielding percentage at first. He committed a total of 2 errors and allowed 4 passed balls. Posey was named to his third All-Star team this year.

2016 was another pretty consistent year for Buster. He slashed a solid .288/.362/434 line with 33 doubles. His power numbers dipped a bit, a trend of things to come, only hitting 14 home runs. He did add another 80 RBI and stole a career high 6 bases. Posey’s defense was stellar once again with a .997 at catcher and a .990 at first. He committed only 4 errors and allowed only 2 passed balls. He was named to his fourth All-Star team and added his lone Gold Glove award.

2017 say another great slash line of .320/.400/.462 from Buster. He hit only 12 home runs and drove in 67 RBI, but he did add 34 doubles this season. His defensive numbers were excellent once again with a .995 behind the plate and a .992 at first. He saw an increase in errors, committing 6 while allowing just 1 passed ball. He was named to his fifth All-Star team this season.

In 2018 Buster’s numbers began to decline as he also started running into some durability issues. He only appeared in 105 games this season. He still slashed a respectable .284/.359/.382. Buster hit a career low 5 home runs and drove in only 41 RBI. I feel it’s worth noting that he had more walks that RBI this season, drawing a total or 48 walks. He did add another 22 double and was named to his sixth All-Star team.

The Twilight Years: 2019 – 2020

In 2019, Buster Posey had his worst year of his career offensively. He struggled to a .257/.320/.368 slash line. On top of that, he only hit 7 home runs, 24 doubles and drove in 38 RBI. To be fair, his season in 2018 was cut short due to a hip injury and he appeared to still be healing from it in 2019. Buster’s defensive numbers stayed quite elite though. He had a .998 fielding percentage behind the plate and another 1.000 fielding percentage at first. Posey only committed 2 errors and allowed just 1 passed ball.

In 2020, just before the season started, MLB shut down for the beginning of the season due to the Covid pandemic. When the league announced that it would start back up, it gave players the option to opt out of the season. Posey opted out of the season due to health concerns for newborn twins that he and his wife adopted. This also allowed him some extra time for his hip to fully recover.

Going Out With A Bang: 2021

In 2021, Buster Posey came into Giants camp fully healthy and ready to play. His numbers showed that not playing in 2020 served him well. Posey slashed a .304/.390/.499 line with 18 home runs, 23 doubles and 56 RBI. He played behind the plate all season and had a .997 fielding percentage, committing 3 errors and allowing 2 passed balls. He helped lead the Giants to a franchise best 107 wins in the regular season. Unfortunately the Giants lost to the Bums in Game 5 of the NLDS to see their season end. Posey ended up winning his second career Comeback Player of the Year and made his seventh and final All-Star team this year. Buster would announce a few weeks later that he was retiring from playing baseball.

Was He The Best?

According to ESPN and Fangraphs, Buster Posey is ranked as the 8th best catcher of all-time. He ranks near the top of almost every category for catchers all-time in baseball. Fangraphs also adds in a metric looking at how good Buster was at framing pitches to help his pitchers at. Posey’s numbers were elite. I’m sure Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain would be happy to tell you how good he was at it.

I feel that Buster was the best catcher ever. I’m not sure that any other catcher has all the awards that Posey has. Add that on top of his intangibles. He was an exceptional team leader. He had the complete trust of his pitching staff whenever he was behind the plate. I rarely recall a time when a pitcher shook Posey off to throw another pitch. Posey also caught a good number of no-hitters (3) and the only perfect game in Giants history.

Buster’s final career stat line is as follows: .302/.372/.460 with 158 home runs, 293 doubles and 729 RBI. His career fielding percentage is .995 having committed 53 errors and allowing only 27 passed balls. He won 3 World Series titles, 1 Rookie of the Year award, 1 MVP award, 5 Silver Slugger awards and made the All-Star team 7 times. The guy was brilliant to watch, and I am very grateful I got to see him play in my lifetime. His next stop: Cooperstown. Go Giants!

All the stats used for this blog are from MLB.com. If you want to know more about me and my love of sports, check out my about me page.