Buster Posey wins fourth Silver Slugger award

Buster Posey is a 2017 Silver Slugger Award winner for the fourth time in his career, receiving the honor as the best hitting catcher in the National League. While he ranked just 11th among NL catchers in home runs, he was first in OPS (min. 300 at-bats), and he lapped the field in on-base percentage, finishing at .400 for the year.

Still, take a moment, a brief moment to savor the idea of a player on the 2017 Giants winning an award with the word “slugger” in the title. It’s like my cat winning the Definitely Doesn’t Barf On Your Clothes Award.

On the other hand, Posey was the best offensive catcher in the NL, so the award was deserved. Other catchers hit more home runs (Yasmani Grandal, Willson Contreras), and other catchers had a higher slugging percentage (Kurt Suzuki, Chris Iannetta), but none of them had a higher batting average, higher OBP, or more hits.

If there’s a downside to this award, it’s that the research led me to discover that Kurt Suzuki had more home runs in 276 at-bats this year than anyone on the Giants. I ... I can’t shake that.

No! We’re here to celebrate Buster Posey’s deserved Silver Slugger Award, his fourth. He had previously won in 2012, 2014, and 2015, and he’s back on top. Let this be a reminder that for all of the problems the Giants had this year — and they had at least three — Posey is still a better hitter (and defender) as a catcher than just about anyone else in baseball. That’s four percent of a roster, and it’s a fine head start!

It’s the other 96 percent that’s up in the air. But Posey is fantastic, and here’s a shiny award to prove it.