Posey pumped to face live pitching

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants are taking it easy on Buster Posey as he workshis way back from a devastating left ankle injury. But theyre not putting abubble around their cleanup-hitting catcher.Posey caught Tim Lincecums side session on Saturday andhell do more catching on Sundaythe first time hell spend time in the squaton consecutive days. Hell also take swings in live batting practice aspitchers face hittersthe first time hell encounter live pitching since herapped a single in the ninth inning May 25.Looking forward to it, Posey said.

Hitters often stand in the box and track most pitches duringthe first live BP day. Posey said hell do some of that. But hes eager to takesome hacks, too.Its easy to forget that Posey wasnt lighting up the boxscores during the early part of last season. He had a .244 average on May 11before starting to turn a corner. He was 17 for 43 in his last 11 games (.395)before the collision at the plate ended his season.Poseys bat is vital to the Giants offensive turnaroundthis season. He said he plans to stand in the box for more side sessions andtrack pitches as he works to get his timing back.When games begin, the real tests will arrive. One of them isbeing ready for plays at the plate, and that includes taking a defensive stancewhile receiving throws. Manager Bruce Bochy worked with Danny Martin, theGiants video coordinator, to compile footage of plays where the catcher set upproperly to make a swipe tag. Bochy sat down with Posey and showed him thefootage Saturday.Pudge Rodriguez was in several of the clips. Bochy calledRodriguez the master of the swipe tag.

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