After seven or so at bats in the Cactus League with nothing to show for it, some fans were starting to get a bit ancy as to whether or not San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is having issues at the plate. Well, he quelled some of that on Wednesday with his first hit of the spring, an opposite field homer in the Giants 2-2 tie with the Cleveland Indians.
Buster sent a a Tony Sipp 1-1 fastball just around the right field foul pole in his sixth inning, his eighth at bat of the spring. He got to test out his ankle on his home run trot, which I'm sure felt excellent after that swing of the bat. Buster was professional about it, of course, knowing that he's still got some work to do before he's regular season ready:
"I still think it's just about getting ready and preparation and getting at-bats and seeing pitches and trying to work on timing as much as anything," Posey said. "I feel like I'm seeing the ball, so that's No.1."
Pablo Sandoval had the other RBI with a groundout that scored Gregor Blanco from third. Blanco showed some smarts and speed on the base paths after he drew a walk, then advanced to third on a Melky Cabrera ground out in the bottom of the first, setting up the easy score.
Skipper Bruce Bochy noted that Buster will take the day off on Thursday after playing DH on Wednesday, and will take up his place behind the plate Friday when the Giants take on the Chicago Cubs.
As for Ryan Vogelsong, he threw a 45 pitch bullpen session today, taking a five minute water break in between two 20-25 pitch sessions. Bochy even stepped in the box to take a look at the movement on his pitches, and noted that he'll see some live hitters next before possibly getting seeing game action.
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