Posey has tools to hit it big

Thomas Stinson - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

He was able to hit a whiffleball curve at age 5. He cleaned up his room without being told. He made straight A's, all because Buster Posey felt it was expected.

Yet even by those standards, his father was at a loss to explain just what happened last weekend, after Florida State lost its first NCAA regional game and Posey, FSU's catcher and perhaps the best player on any college campus, took matters into his own hands.

"I was just sitting there dumb-founded," said Demp Posey, his father. "I couldn't even get up and clap."

With the Seminoles, the country's No. 2 team, facing elimination, Posey over the span of four games went further than even he expected, batting .500 (8-for-16) with five home runs and 13 RBIs. FSU outscored Florida, Bucknell and Tulane 74-35 and advanced in the NCAA tournament because Posey had simply willed it.

"I don't know which home run he hit," said Demp Posey, normally the modest father, "but I was just like, 'Now wait a minute. This has got to stop.' "

If anything, Posey's timing was perfect, for his display was the last impression he could make upon major league scouts before today's annual baseball draft. And if Posey isn't the first player selected - he's been predicted to go anywhere from first to fifth - he will still be one of a handful of Georgia products (Posey grew up in Leesburg, 11 miles north of Albany) scattered throughout the early picks.

"I'll be happy wherever I end up," said Buster Posey, who on Tuesday was named a finalist for both the Golden Spikes Award (top college player) and Johnny Bench Award (top college catcher). "I just feel so fortunate to be in a position I am in, that whatever happens, I'm excited."

He has company. Foremost among the state's top prospects are:

• Gordon Beckham, SS, Georgia: Also a Golden Spikes finalist, the Westminster School product was the SEC player of the year with surprising breakout power (24 homers).
• Tim Beckham, SS, Griffin High School: A USC signee, he gave up baseball in grade school only to blossom when he returned. He is a solid if not completely polished infielder who hit .472 as a senior.

• Josh Fields, RHP, Georgia: The highest drafted player last year (No. 69 overall by the Braves) to go unsigned, Fields was voted the SEC's top pitcher (16 saves, 2.27 ERA and .112 average allowed).

• Ethan Martin, RHP/INF, Stephens County High School: A dominant arm - 95 mph fastball, 84 mph split-finger - Martin has drawn almost as much attention as a 200-pound power hitter.

But Posey, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-handed junior, presents a rare package. He leads the NCAA in average (.467), slugging percentage (.864) and on-base percentage (.567) while still learning to master catching. He was converted from shortstop as a sophomore, and while he is versatile enough to play all nine positions — he did so May 12 against Savannah State — he still feels his skills are under construction.

"A goal of mine when I started the season was to improve my power numbers a little bit," he said. "I worked hard in the offseason, tweaking my swing here and there, studying and learning how to approach certain counts.

"The biggest thing is just learning the game more, and that just comes with [being in] my third year in college. I played a lot of baseball."

But has he played enough? The draft has rarely trusted catchers with the first pick. Only four have ever been taken No. 1, and only one in the past 22 years (Joe Mauer by Minnesota in 2001).

Not that Posey will even be able to follow where he is going. In preparation for the weekend's NCAA super regional series against Wichita State, FSU has been slotted to practice Thursday between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The draft starts at 2 p.m.

"I think that's a little unfortunate," Posey said. "You're not able to slow down enough so that you can enjoy it."

At least not yet.