Leesburg native Buster Posey named National League All-Star starter at catcher

After sitting out the 2020 season, Buster Posey is back in a familiar spot.

The Leesburg native and San Francisco Giants was named the National League’s starting catcher for the MLB All-Star Game on Thursday. It has been a major bounceback season for Posey, 34, who struggled through the 2019 season and opted out of the 2020 season to stay home with his newborn twins during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The all-star selection is the seventh of his MLB career, but the first in three years. It is the fifth time he has earned a starting nod in the showcase.

The MLB All-Star Game is July 13 at Coors Field.

“I definitely think he’s worthy of being called the best catcher in the National League so far this season,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com. “I would say that he’s been a stabilizing force for us behind the plate, both working with our pitchers and being an excellent receiver, and a good thrower as well. I think he’s having arguably his best offensive season in quite some time.”

Posey was one of three finalists on the 2021 Google All-Star Ballot, then earned 58% of the vote for the starting spot over fellow contenders Yadier Molina (25%) and Willson Contreras (18%).

Coming off 2018 hip surgery, Posey hit .257 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs in a disappointing 2019 season. After missing 2020, he has returned to his previous for this season for the first-place Giants. As of late this week, he was hitting .335 with 12 home runs and 27 RBIs through 55 games.

He has finished the season over .300 five times in his career — .305 in 2010, .336 in 2012, .311 in 2014, .318 in 2015 and .320 in 2017. He is a career .303 hitter. His power numbers already are up from past seasons, already closing in on his most homers since hitting 14 in 2016. He is halfway to his career high of 24, set during the 2012 season when he earned NL MVP honors.

“I’m not at all surprised by his ability to spray the ball around the field, use right field effectively,” Kapler told MLB.com. “I think the power resurgence is … I don’t really want to call it surprising, because we knew he had power. But seeing it show up has been really encouraging. I mean, a lot of that has to do with his body being healthier than it has been in a really long time.”

Posey has played his entire MLB career with the Giants, who drafted him in the first round in 2008 out of Florida State.