Giants Talk: Buster Posey implores veteran players to step up amid team's ‘funk'

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey joins Alex Pavlovic and Kylen Mills to discuss the current state of the team.

Giants Talk: Buster Posey implores veteran players to step up amid team's 'funk' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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Buster, appreciate the time as always.

unfortunately, we're sitting down after what was a tough road trip for the team.

You've been through some moments like that as a player, but now from your vantage point in the front office, like, what's the most frustrating part about having to sit back and watch what just transpired during the last six games?

I mean, I think the biggest difference for me is you still, as a player, felt like you could impact the game- Mm-hmm and you could get, you go the next day even if it was a tough game and, have a chance to help the team win and now, you know, I'm like everybody else, just kinda watching.

obviously, there's some different things we can do, which we have done- Mm-hmm with, changing the roster up.

and, you know, mixing some things up, try to jumpstart the offense a little bit but, yeah, it's not, it's not the same amount of control as a player.

Yeah.

Is there anything specifically that stuck out to you about some of the issues with the play that, that you want to address first and foremost?

I mean, you know, offense is, is obviously the one that we're all pointing to and, and rightfully so.

Um- Yeah you know, the biggest thing for me, and I've said it, been saying it for a while now, it feels like our guys are trying to go get everything back in one swing or one at-bat.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm just a firm believer that you really just have to compartmentalize and try your best to chip away.

and, and hopefully that's a place that we're gonna get.

And look, in all, all reality, we're going to need our veteran players, that hit in the middle of our order to, to help lead us out of this.

I mean- Yeah we're going to have to have them be productive for us to get out of this funk that we're in.

Mm-hmm.

on the bright side, at least to some degree, a lot of people are really excited about seeing Bryce Eldridge make his 2026, debut with the Big League club.

When did you decide it was time for him to come up?

Was that as a result of the team play, or like, was there anything building up for him to where you felt like this was really a good time, where he's been playing really well?

I think it's a little bit of both.

Sure.

first and foremost, it was, watching his at-bats and watching him continue to, to really play good baseball.

I mean, talk about the offense, but I think what I've been most impressed about with him, you know, watching him closely the last year and a half, is how hard he's worked his defense.

Not nec- We'll, we'll see how much defensive time that he gets out there, but, put up some good numbers in triple A and, and hopefully, again, one of those guys that can, can be productive and, and kind give us a d- a boost offensively.

Mm-hmm.

Buster, I know if Tony makes the lineup, but for you, when you add Bryce to this mix, when your best hitter has been your DH, Casey Schmidt- Yeah how do you envision this going, and is it gonna be something where some of the veterans maybe have to take a little bit of a step back?

Yeah.

That's how, that's how we envision it.

you know, Casey has been playing well and I don't think he should be punished, because others have not played well.

So yeah, it's, it's gonna be a little bit of mixing and matching and, and trying to, you know, get some of the match-ups that are favorable for us, with Casey in there.

And, you know, he's shown in the past that he can move around the field and play some different positions.

So right now, that's how I see it transpiring.

I heard a story in the spring about the trade deadline last year when you were looking at Jess Rodrguez for the first time, and it's a really interesting swing and you were kind of like, "This is maybe a little different," and pretty quickly you, you fell in love with the bat.

Do you remember the first time you saw him and, and what you liked about him last year?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I, I just, I watched a ton of video and what stood out to me is he just sprayed the ball all over the field.

pretty poised at the plate, had the ability to adjust.

You know, you'll see him sometimes be fooled, but they'll, he can keep his hands back enough to hook the ball down the left field line, then he'll shoot a ball the other way.

Think there's a chance that power maybe comes as he gets a little bit older but, had a chance to talk to him briefly today when he got here, and main message was just keep, keep doing what you're doing, you know?

I think he's a, he's a pretty smart and savvy guy and understands I mean, if you go and look at his minor league numbers throughout the course of his career- Yeah he's always hit.

Mm-hmm.

You know?

And he's working on, you know, stuff behind the plate more and more, so a guy that, a guy that I'm really excited to see.

Again, can he provide us a little bit of a, a spark?

You have him here now.

I know Suzek's anxious to get back out there.

What does this mean for Patrick Bailey and, and just, does he need to pick it up a little bit more now with where he's at offensively?

Well, I mean, I, I think I'll, I'll answer it in a way that's similar to how I think about our offensive players need to go about, their job right now.

I think for us, we're, we're really just gonna have to go day to day and, and, and evaluate day to day.

And so, I think Patty would tell you that he knows that there's more in there, more capability in there, with the bat.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen it, so we're gonna have to, you know, get some different looks right now.

When it comes to managing that lineup day to day, like you mentioned, do you consider giving some of those veterans that you kind of pointed out wanting to lead the group, like Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, or maybe the guys who haven't hit the way you hoped they would, an extra day off here and there, or how do you attack that lineup with some of those vets who haven't maybe reached what you guys know they're capable of?

It's, it's challenging, 'cause you appreciate they all wanna be in there every day.

Of course.

but at the same time, I got to live it, and sometimes when you're off, a little bit of a reset is a good thing.

so yeah, it's a consideration.

I think that we have to be considerate about being strategic, like can you give a guy a day off before an off day, and now maybe he's getting two.

so yeah, we're taking all that into consideration.

What do you think in general about the lack of walks and kind of the walk rate being down across the board?

That is usually something that stabilizes a little bit earlier in the season.

I, I guess how concerned are you about what you're seeing in that department?

Well, when you're missing pitches in the heart of the plate, I think it's gonna go hand-in-hand with the walk rate being down.

If, if, if a staff's not fearing you and not, not fearful of missing in the heart of the plate, um-Naturally, walk rates are going to be lower.

Mm-hmm.

flipping over to the pitching staff, Buster, you know, obviously there was a lot of frustration about a couple blown saves against Philadelphia.

Closer has not officially been named.

Ryan Walker's had some opportunities.

We just saw Keaton Wynn get one, and unfortunately didn't go the way he hoped.

What's your philosophy in, in, you know, evaluating that closer role?

Do you feel like you're any closer?

Do you feel like there's a guy in this bullpen who can really take ownership of that?

Yeah, I mean, my philosophy as much as anything, of course you want to look at results, but you want to look at body language on the mound.

You want to unders- you want to look and see how a guy handles the success.

You want to see how he handles the failures.

the bullpen's been a bright spot for us.

You know, as you, as you mentioned, it was a tough couple of tough ones, two or three tough ones on the road.

Yeah.

but yeah, I, I, I also would say I, I trust Tony and I trust his staff as far as what they're seeing, what they're hearing in the dugout, what kind of work guys are getting in before games, after games, and, you know, trust their ability as coaches to make the right decisions there.

Yeah, bullpen's been great overall.

You know, one thing we saw from the bullpen on that trip a couple times is guys were throwing the same pitch over and over and over again.

As a former catcher in this role, I, I know you've tried not to be involved in the clubhouse that much.

do you have to get involved with something like that, or how do you handle that when you see that?

no, I mean, our, our staff's on that, so it's not something that, that I have to, to jump in on.

And, yeah, it's a, it's a, it is a tricky one.

I, I have played that position as well, and I try not to, not to overanalyze too much.

but yeah, I think that's probably some sequences there that, that we wish we had back.

I'll finish with this.

You started with the Bryce question.

I- I'm gonna finish with one.

We just talked to him about the pressure, and he said, "I'm not feeling it."

But I, I know you probably didn't want him to come up at a time when he maybe has to feel like he has to be a savior.

Did you tell him anything about that and, you know, just go out and play your game, don't worry about trying to fix the lineup by yourself or...?

I mean, for being twenty-one years old, I, I believe if he told you that, I, I kind of believe him.

I mean, is he feeling some pressure?

Yeah, I mean, he's, he's feeling natural pressure that everybody feels when they get to the big leagues.

But, he seems to have a really mature way about him and, you know, we'll see.

We'll see how it shakes out for him, but I'm excited, I think, like everybody else to watch him and, and, look, I mean, this, this is a team sport.

You got to have twenty-six guys out there that are playing good baseball.

The reality is you are gonna need your, your productive players to, to step up and play good baseball.

And we have those guys on this roster.

We just haven't gotten them yet, and hopefully Bryce will understand as well as like he's just gonna hopefully be a big piece of, of a productive offense moving forward.

All right.

Thank you, Buster.

You got it.

Thanks so much.

Appreciate it.

You got it.

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