Return to Form Awarded: Buster Posey Wins Comeback POY

Announced early this morning was that Giants catcher and Brandon Belt’s backup 1B Buster Posey was awarded MLB’s Comeback Player of the Year award for the National League. Fernando Rodney won for the American League.

In order to win the award a player must have “re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season.” Buster Posey fell into not-blocking-the-basepath legend with his injury to now Toronto Blue Jay but former Marlin Scott Cousins after a throw in extra innings from former Giant and current Phillie Nate Schierholtz led to a play at the plate that is unfortunately still being put on the airwaves as if to remind the public what suffering looks like.

In 148 games in 2012, Buster Posey hit 24 HR in 610 PA, eclipsed the all-important-for-some-reason 100 RBI with 103, had a .368 BABIP, .406 wOBA, 162 wRC+, and had an 8.0 fWAR to round out the well above average measurements for not just a player coming back, but for a major leaguer in general. Each of those numbers are career highs for Posey. Part of the narrative will be that Buster also led his team to the playoffs because if you win an award and your team is in the playoffs, it was probably because of you, and mostly you, despite the fact that there might have been other players on the roster.

Buster Posey and his Giants will try to stave off elimination tonight at 5:07PM PST on FOX against the St. Louis Cardinals who hold a 3-1 series lead and are looking to go back to the World Series and hold a 2006 rematch with the Detroit Tigers.