Rays might finally be ready to break their Buster Posey curse
Rays might finally be ready to break their Buster Posey curse originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Tampa Bay Rays haven't been around in the Major Leagues for very long, so it's no surprise that there's a lack of all-time greats who've played for them.
But that doesn't mean the Rays don't have some franchise legends. Or, someone who "cursed" the franchise just like the Boston Red Sox with Babe Ruth. Buster Posey is the player for the Rays with their catcher position issues.
However, those issues might finally be behind them. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic highlighted how Nick Fortes and the Rays' two top catcher prospects might finally have the Posey curse behind the Rays.
Rays might finally put Buster Posey curse behind them
"Catcher Nick Fortes is off to a good start with the Tampa Bay Rays, batting .304 with a .790 OPS," Rosenthal writes. "If he can't entirely solve 'The Curse of Buster Posey,' perhaps he can point the Rays in the right direction at a position that has long haunted them."
Fortes has played well in his Rays tenure, posting a mediocre .655 last season in 38 games after the trade deadline, but a .790 OPS this season through 14 games.
Add in intriguing catching prospects Nathan Flewelling and Caden Bodine, and the Rays might finally be on track to put this Posey curse behind them.
It all began in 2008, when the Rays took shortstop Tim Beckham over Posey with the first overall pick. Posey went on to be a potential Hall of Famer, while Beckham posted 3.9 career bWAR.
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If the Rays took Posey, things might've gone a lot differently for them as a franchise. Maybe they would've won a World Series.
But, with the leading catcher by bWAR in Rays history being Toby Hall at just 5.7 bWAR, the Rays' catching issues have been very apparent for their entire franchise history.
Fortes, the 29-year-old catcher, might not be the perfect solution, but his presence at the plate so far this season is a good starting point for the Rays to begin to put the Posey curse behind them.
