Giants being cautious with Posey

The Giants are happy with Buster Posey’s progress coming back from a season-ending leg injury, but they’re slowing things down.

Posey, who has been participating in workouts, will not play in the Giants Spring Training opener on Saturday and it’s doubtful he’ll see any game action until next week.

If he’s been catching bullpen sessions and taking batting practice, why won’t the Giants let him put on the tools of ignorance this weekend?

Simply put, they don’t think he’s ready. He hasn’t tested his leg running the bases and sliding and Giants’ staff wants to give him a few more days before throwing him into live game action.

“At this point, we feel he’s better off (not playing),” manager Bruce Bochy told CSNBayArea’s Andrew Baggarly. “Could he go back there and catch? Yeah. But we want to make sure he’s ready.”

The Giants clearly understand how important the 2010 Rookie of the Year is to their hopes of contending in 2012. When Posey joined the Giants in May 2010, he was the catalyst that propelled the Giants to the World Series. When he got hurt in May 2011, they watched the Giants playoff end, right there.

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Giants fans making the trip to Scottsdale for the Spring Training opener will be disappointed that Posey wont suit up, but they’d be even more disappointed if he suffered a setback in a meaningless game, forcing him to miss more regular season games.

The Giants are right to be careful with Posey, but soon enough, they will take the bubble wrap off and let him do his thing.