SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- When Buster Posey underwent major surgery on his right hip in August, Madison Bumgarner didn’t think the Giants’ franchise catcher would be ready for Opening Day. He certainly didn’t expect to be throwing to him in a Cactus League game on the first of March.
“Not that I didn’t expect him to get back as soon as he could, but that’s a pretty major deal he went through,” Bumgarner said. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to have him back even when the season started. It’s awesome that he’s ready to go now pretty much. When I saw the shape he was in and how he felt when I first got here, I felt really good about it.”
“I always tell him catchers are a lot tougher than pitchers,” Posey said.
Twenty-seven days before the Giants are scheduled to play their regular-season opener in San Diego, Posey started behind the plate for the first time this spring and caught Bumgarner for three innings in the Giants’ 5-3 win over the Reds at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday night. He went 1-for-2 and batted third in his first competitive game since Aug. 24.
“I thought he looked good, didn’t he?” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He looked fine, and this isn’t the best lights to have your first game under. He caught well. Good piece of two-strike hitting there, so good three innings for him.”
In his first at-bat of the night against Cincinnati right-hander Tyler Mahle, Posey delivered an opposite-field single and promptly advanced from first to third base on a bloop single from Evan Longoria. He struck out swinging in his second at-bat in the third inning.
“It would have been nice to maybe ease into it a little bit, but it was also nice to check off some more boxes and see how my body responds tomorrow and on Sunday,” Posey said. “But overall, I was really happy with how everything felt.”
After playing through a compromised hip for most of last season, Posey said he can now feel a major difference in how his body feels post-surgery.
“I feel a lot better,” Posey said. “That’s the only way I can really compare. I can’t really give you a scale, but I definitely feel a lot better, minus feeling like I was swinging underwater in my second at-bat. But just overall, even catching behind the plate, I feel more free. I think that’s a good way to put it.”
Posey wasn’t the only Giant to enjoy a successful Cactus League debut on Friday. Steven Duggar, who is coming off left shoulder surgery, also started in center field and batted leadoff for the first time this spring. He finished 0-for-1, but he helped manufacture a run for the Giants in the third inning after drawing a walk, stealing second and scoring on a wild pitch.
Like Posey, Duggar has enjoyed a smooth rehab so far. The only restriction the Giants have placed on him is instituting a no-diving rule for him this spring.
“I think that’ll be a challenge because I like to go get it,” Duggar said. “That’s just the way I play. But there’s a bigger picture, I think, Just trying to stay healthy and continue to push the shoulder through some games and keep it going.”
Bochy said Posey and Duggar will both take Saturday off before returning to the lineup on Sunday.