Buster Posey Likely to Have Season-Ending Surgery on Hip Injury

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is dealing with a hip injury but will continue to play for now.

Manager Bruce Bochy said as much, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Pavlovic noted the "Giants are confident he can’t do further damage by playing for now."

This comes after John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle noted Posey "faces likely hip surgery that would cut short his season."

Bochy revealed there have been discussions about the surgery when he said, per Shea: "I'll be honest with you. We have discussed that. We talked about it. Nothing's been determined yet. Because we want him ready for next year. We're discussing that now."

Giants executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean said, "I'd say that that's a safe assumption," when asked about the surgery happening soon.

Posey has served as a cornerstone piece of San Francisco's roster for nearly a decade. He's helped lead the franchise to three World Series titles, was named the National League MVP in 2012 and leads all catchers in WAR since his 2009 debut, per FanGraphs.

The 31-year-old Georgia native has also remained mostly durable despite the physically demanding position. He entered 2018 having played at least 140 games in six straight seasons. He missed this year's All-Star Game while recovering from the hip injury, though.

Nick Hundley will slide into the starting lineup and figures to receive the lion's share of the playing time behind the dish.

Ultimately, the Giants are going to need a late-season surge to earn a playoff berth in the National League. Being without Posey for any type of extended period would be a major blow to those efforts given his all-around on-field contributions and clubhouse leadership.