Buster Posey Is Having a Stephen Curry-Type of Second Half

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is riding a hot streak right now, just like in the second half of the 2012 season.

In 2012, Posey was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player while leading the Giants to their second World Series title in three seasons. Posey won MVP mostly because of a blazing hot second half (post All-Star break) when he hit .385, hit 14 home runs, and collected 60 RBI. He also had a .646 slugging percentage and a 1.102 OPS.

Posey was also named the NL batting champion in 2012, after finishing the season with the highest batting average in the NL. Overall, Posey finished the 2012 season with a batting average of .336. He also hit 24 home runs, had 103 RBI, and had a .957 OPS.

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Posey got off to a somewhat subpar start to the 2014 season, at least for Posey’s standards. In the first half of the season, Posey was hitting .277, he hit 10 home runs, and he collected 46 RBI. He also hit just .256 in April and .253 in May.

Since the All-Star break though, Posey has been red hot. He’s hit .355 so far in the second half, he has 10 home runs, has collected 35 RBI, has a .596 slugging percentage, and has a .999 OPS. He also was just named the National League’s Co-Player of the Week.

These numbers are similar to his 2012 statistics, and because of this recent hot streak, his name has been thrown into MVP discussions once again.

Overall for the 2014 season, Posey has raised his average to .306, he has hit 20 home runs, and he has collected 81 RBI. He currently has a .847 OPS.

Posey’s recent surge into the MVP race is similar to his 2012 MVP campaign, but it’s also similar to another Bay Area superstar’s second half surge.

After being snubbed from the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, Stephen Curry went on to have a memorable second half of the 2012-2013 season. After the All-Star break in 2013, Curry averaged 26 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.7 steals, along with 47.6 percent shooting from the field, 46.1 percent shooting from three-point range, and 89.4 percent free throw shooting.

Just like Curry, Posey wasn’t selected as a 2014 All-Star. His first half statistics weren’t as impressive as they normally are, but there was still a case to be made on why Posey could’ve been an All-Star.

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Curry certainly should’ve been named an All-Star in 2013. In the first half of the season, he averaged 21 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.6 steals, along with 43.4 percent shooting from the field, 44.7 percent shooting from three-point range, and 90.5 percent free throw shooting. Although his numbers were more impressive in the second half, he still put up All-Star numbers in the first half of the season.

After an All-Star snub, some professional athletes might struggle or try too hard to prove themselves. Both Curry and Posey elevated their games and led, or are leading, their teams into the postseason.

Curry didn’t win MVP that season, but he started to solidify himself as a superstar in the NBA. He proved that he isn’t afraid of the big moments and that he can be a successful leader in the NBA.

Posey has already shown that he’s a superstar and has already been named an MVP before. He also has won two World Series titles, but he has a Curry-like effect on this Giants team.

Curry is, by far, the best player on the Warriors, and this is a well-known fact. Posey is arguably the best player on the Giants, but fans could also make an argument that Madison Bumgarner or Hunter Pence is the best player.

Both players have an impact on their teams though that no other player has. When they do well, it seems to propel their respective teams to accomplish more.

Curry’s monster second half in 2013 propelled the Warriors to their first playoff appearance since 2007, and he led the Warriors in beating the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals.