After suffering through a grim collision, a grim injury, and a grim rehab, catcher Buster Posey is back in action with the San Francisco Giants. He's looking forward to a full season of activity, and for the Giants' part, they're not particularly interested in having Posey go through the same thing all over again later on. Here's one way they're trying to make sure Posey doesn't get slammed again, from Henry Schulman:
Buster Posey Instructed By Giants To No Longer Block Plate
It is not a hint, or a suggestion, or a plea, but a direct order: Manager Bruce Bochy has told catcher Buster Posey not to block the plate this season.
“I’ll take this out of Buster’s hands,” Bochy said after Giants pitchers and catchers, including Posey, finished their first formal workout of spring training Sunday.
Here's the funny part, where "funny" isn't really the right word at all - Posey wasn't actually blocking the plate when he got drilled by Scott Cousins. It's Posey's understanding that Cousins went out of his way for the hit. But even if blocking the plate isn't how Posey got hurt in the first place, there's no denying that not blocking the plate will help him remain healthy.
What’s tricky is that blocking the plate can be instinctive for a catcher. Posey and the Giants are going to have to work hard to overcome that. But that’s why we have spring training. That’s not the only reason why we have spring training, but it’s one of them.
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