SF Giants: Why Buster Posey Is Building a Strong Case for the 2012 NL MVP Award

You heard it here: Buster Posey for the 2012 NL MVP is not an outlandish concept.

Yes—the San Francisco Giants catcher is building just as strong a case for the award as the frontrunner Andrew McCutchen.

The sensational Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder is fully deserving of the honor. However, Posey is equally worthy.

Both the Giants and Pirates are in prime position for postseason action.

San Francisco sits atop the NL West. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has a winning record this late in the season for the first time since a certain Barry Bonds played for the club back in 1992.

And in 2012, both Posey and McCutchen are big reasons why their teams are in contention.

Posey, though, is a better all around player with the statistics and intangibles to back it up.

Here are the three reasons why Posey has a strong case for the 2012 NL MVP.

Equal Pitching

Those scoffing at my argument will point to the Giants awesome pitching staff as the most important component on the club.

I’ll counter that the same contingent leads the Pirates as well.

The Giants and Pirates rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in NL team pitching. The former enjoys a superior starting staff, while the latter features a more dominant bullpen.

Both sport a collective 3.66 ERA.

In other words, the comparison between these teams’ pitching staffs is essentially a wash. Each wins ballgames primarily with pitching.

A bottom-eight ranking for both clubs in team batting further corroborates this assertion.

But teams obviously must score runs to notch W’s in the standings.

Who, then, provides a greater impact offensively, Buster Posey or Andrew McCutchen?

Offensive Impact Goes to Buster

One cannot make the argument against McCutchen’s National League-leading statistics.

I, however, can argue that Posey’s presence in the lineup is more crucial to his team’s overall success.

The Giants catcher leads McCutchen in RBI but Pittsburgh’s star outfielder has the edge in all other major categories.

So, where does my argument begin?

It begins and ends with the Giants’ notoriously deficient bats—an all too familiar phenomenon for fans in the city by the bay.

Without Buster in the lineup in 2011, the Giants were abysmal offensively, ranking dead last in the NL. Now that he’s back in the lineup this season, his team ranks in the top 10.

Detractors on Team McCutchen will argue that San Francisco’s offensive resurgence should be credited to Melky Cabrera. While the Melk Man does indeed lead the majors in hits, he provides neither the home run power nor RBI production.

Posey leads the Giants in home runs, RBI, OBP, OPS and offensive wins above replacement (OWAR). He is also the more clutch hitter.

Moreover, McCutchen has superior overall pieces around him.

Four additional players have double-digit home runs and three have 50-plus RBI, compared to just one each for Buster Posey.

Also, while McCutchen has maintained a higher batting average throughout the season, Posey has produced a better second half when his team has needed it most.

The Giants trailed the Dodgers in the standings heading into the All-Star break. Since that time, Posey leads the majors in home runs, batting average, slugging percentage and hits.

His team now owns first place in the NL West.

There is little doubt that McCutchen is the sexier offensive force for a contending team.

That said, Posey’s offensive impact for the first-place San Francisco Giants is more significant.

Defense More Than Just Fielding Percentage

As with his offensive numbers, developing a case against McCutchen in surface-level statistical categories on defense would amount to a futile effort.

He leads National League center fielders with a .996 fielding percentage.

Posey, meanwhile, has the second-lowest fielding percentage among qualified catchers at .991.

Yet, as the title of this slide indicates, defense entails much more than number of errors committed—believe it or not.

McCutchen has registered the least amount of outfield assists. He also displays range in the outfield that rates well below that of, say, Angel Pagan—the Giants center fielder.

His minus-0.3 in defensive wins above replacement (DWAR) further reveals that McCutchen does not contribute to his team’s wins defensively.

The man behind the plate for the Giants is an entirely different story.

Posey has the fewest passed balls, thrown out the fourth-most would-be stealers and ranks top four in defensive range.

His six errors occurred largely in the beginning of the season when he was still acclimating to the field after missing the majority of 2011 with a devastating injury.

Furthermore, unlike the Pirates center fielder, Posey alters the game in a positive direction with his defense.

The first indicator of this is his 0.2 rating in DWAR. He ranks in the positive, while McCutchen falls on the negative side.

But more importantly, Posey plays a much more vital position as the Giant’s starting catcher.

He has the formidable responsibility of managing his team’s pitching staff—the unit that has ultimately pushed San Francisco into first place.

And he has done so with remarkable success, posting a catcher’s earned run average of 3.42, good for top three in the NL.

Posey has developed a great relationship with such front-line starters as Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong. He has also been instrumental in helping Tim Lincecum emerge from his struggles this year.

He has helped facilitate the success of the bullpen as well.

The Giants’ backup catcher Hector Sanchez is improving, but the pitching staff simply feels more comfortable with Buster behind the plate. He brings intangibles and a sense of leadership that transcend his young age.

Buster is a rare commodity that has a mastery over the most important position on the field.

Concluding Thoughts

Does Andrew McCutchen provide the same beneficial presence among his teammates, and contribute to the same extent in the box scores overall as Buster Posey?

I don’t believe so.

McCutchen is a fine young man who is no doubt having an MVP-caliber season. It’s just that Posey affects his team’s success in a much more significant fashion.

He contributes to wins with his bat, glove, intellect, handle on the pitching staff and unquantifiable intangibles.

McCutchen cannot say the same.

Will the Pirates’ main man ultimately take home the MVP trophy?

Most likely.

But those paying any attention to the Major Leagues this season must realize that Posey deserves the award just as much.

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