Buster Posey, Before and after the break

What was the Buster Posey difference after the All-Star break?

The numbers only tell part of the story

Split	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1st Half	273	35	79	16	0	10	43	32	50	.289	.362	.458	.820
2nd Half	257	43	99	23	1	14	60	37	46	.385	.456	.646	1.102

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/12/2012. 

When you look inside Posey's performance you need to look at the outer-half of the plate.

Prior to the break, Posey hit .220, with a .331 OBP, .303 slugging, .634 OPS, strike out rate of 18.5%:

After the break, Posey hit .353, with a .453 OBP, .617 slugging, 1.069 OPS, strike out rate of 11.3%:

Posey had seven extra-base hits on pitches on the outer-half before the break and 20 XBH after the break.

He had six opposite field hits on pitches on the outer-half before the break and 14 after the break.

High-Ball Slugging Puts Posey, Molina in MVP Conversation

Buster Posey and Yadier Molina are both having historically awesome seasons, raking at the plate (Posey has a league-best 172 OPS+, Molina checks in at 141) and vaporizing base runners behind it (Molina has thrown out 47% of would-be thieves, and Posey has erased 30%). That blend of offensive and defensive prowess at a premium position has made both serious NL MVP Award contenders, with Molina tied for second in Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement and Posey placing fifth.

Posey or Molina could beat out the likes of Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Braun and David Wright for that hardware thanks in part to the backstops crushing pitches thrown high in the strike zone. Check out Posey and Molina's slugging percentage by pitch location this season:

Posey

Molina

Posey and Molina rank second and third, respectively, in slugging on pitches thrown high in the zone:

Highest slugging percentage on high pitches among qualified hitters

Batter	Slugging Pct.
Carlos Beltran	.725
Buster Posey	.702
Yadier Molina	.694
Ryan Braun	.664
Adam LaRoche	.643
Mark Teixeira	.636
Aaron Hill	.610
Paul Goldschmidt	.608
Billy Butler	.608
Aramis Ramirez	.600
MLB Avg.	.387

Pitchers try not to challenge these two with high stuff, throwing Posey and Molina an elevated pitch about 22% of the time (26% MLB average). That's smart, considering any hurler who misses high over the next few days risks getting a shout-out in a Posey or Molina acceptance speech.

Posey Pummeling Fastballs, Sinkers

Buster Posey pushed the Giants a little closer to the NL West title last night, popping a two-run homer off Wade Miley that proved to be the difference in San Francisco's 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Posey has shown no ill effects from last year's home plate collision, making a compelling MVP case by ranking near the top in all three triple-crown categories: third in batting (.333) and on-base percentage (.407), and ninth in slugging (.546).

While the result was a game-altering, opposite-field homer, Miley had the right idea by tossing Posey a low-and-away fastball. That's the only portion of the zone where Posey hasn't gone all Ty Cobb on pitchers when they feed him a fastball or a sinker:

Posey's average by pitch location against fastballs and sinkers

Posey's batting .377 overall against fastballs and sinkers, ranking behind only Andrew McCutchen (.388) among qualified hitters. The Giants' backstop makes scads of contact against fastballs/sinkers (13.9% miss rate, 15.9% MLB average) and doesn't chase off the plate, swinging 21.8% of the time he gets an out-of-zone fastball or sinker (25.5% MLB average). That combo of contact and patience is how Posey gets in hitter's counts like the one that produced last night's deciding homer, and that approach has helped him rank 18th in the majors in fastball slugging (.593).

Miley hit his target last night. But the lefty, like many other pitchers this season, learned the hard way that there's no safe spot for a fastball with Posey at the plate.