Posey seeking comeback

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Buster Posey leans on the back of the batting cage under Arizona’s blue skies, one leg crossed over the other as he watches his teammates take their cuts while awaiting his own turn. The star catcher chats up athletic trainer Dave Groeschner and talks hitting with manager Bruce Bochy.

“Hi, Buster!” hollered 6-yearold Jordan Larocco, a first-grader from Peoria who attended Monday’s workout with father Michael and 1-year-old brother, Sebastian. Posey immediately turned and offered a wave and smile.

Gearing up for the World Baseball Classic and his ninth major league season in an already decorated career, Posey is perfectly happy to leave last year behind.

He is unable to put a finger on why his power numbers fell or say for certain whether fatigue was a factor. He cleared the fences for the fewest times when playing a full season in his eight years as a big leaguer.

“Oh, you feel worn down at the end of every year regardless if you have power numbers or not. You usually feel a little bit better when you are hitting a few more homers, just the way it goes,” Posey said. “I don’t know exactly what the explanation was. I’m looking forward to getting out and getting after it this year.”

Now, the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year and 2012 MVP is working on an abbreviated spring schedule with the San Francisco Giants to learn the pitchers and find his hitting stroke before departing for the WBC to play for the U.S. team.

He batted .288 with 14 home runs, 33 doubles and 80 RBIs in 146 games. Posey has read statistics that his exit velocity — or how hard he hit the ball — was as high as ever.

“If I look at that, that tells me I was probably hitting too many balls on the ground,” said Posey, who turns 30 next month. “Maybe that could be something mechanical. More than likely it probably is. Hopefully there’s an adjustment I can make where I can keep that consistent hard contact rate but maybe get a few more balls in the gap or better.”