After a devastating injury ended Buster Posey's season, Giants manager Bruce Bochy has told his catcher to no longer block the plate.
Posey was the 2010 National League Rookie of the Year but saw his 2011 campaign cut short when a collision at home plate on May 25 led to three torn ligaments in his ankle and a broken bone in his leg.
Bochy does not want to deal with a similar situation in the future.
"I've already talked to Buster about this," Bochy told reporters. "There are ways to make the tag without putting yourself in jeopardy. I don't want him to block the plate right now."
Bochy spent nine years in the MLB as a catcher, so he has experience with this type of situation. Ultimately, it comes down to protecting one of San Francisco's best young players. Before the injury, Posey was hitting .284 with an OPS+ of 115. At just 24 years old, Posey is one of the Giants' best building blocks going forward and they cannot afford to let him suffer another serious injury.
Posey will start the 2012 season as the Giants' starting catcher, but don't expect to see him involved in any of those violent collisions at the plate.
