In San Francisco, they never stopped calling him M-V-Posey. But these days, you can expect the chants to be a little louder when Buster Posey excites the fans at AT&T Park.
The San Francisco Giants are right back in contention in the NL West again, after falling as many 5 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers just a few weeks ago. And Buster Posey, their franchise cornerstone, has been a huge part of their resurgence.
The Giants beat the Detroit Tigers again Saturday, their second straight win in Detroit. Posey was 3-for-3 with a homer and two runs scored. In Friday's win, Posey was 2-for-5. He's had at least two hits in each of his last five games and that's certainly one of the reasons the Giants are within two games of the Dodgers again. Before this week, they hadn't been within two since the start of August.
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• In San Francisco's past 15 games, Posey is hitting an insane .508 with seven homers and 21 RBIs. The Giants are 10-5 in those games.
• Posey's Wins Above Replacement total is the highest in all of baseball since the All-Star break. He's accumulated 2.8 WAR, according to Fangraphs. So essentially, without him the Giants would be five games back in the division and barely holding onto a wild card instead of the four-game cushion they own.
• Since Aug. 1, the Giants are 18-14, a welcome relief from the 22-30 the two previous months. Since Aug. 1, Posey is hitting .382 with eight homers and 25 RBIs.*Other Giants players have been playing well since the start of the August too, but Posey has certainly been leading the way.*
Nevermind the*9 1/2 game lead the Giants blew in June, it's crunch time and the Giants are right there. After the Tigers series, S.F. hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks, then the Dodgers visit for three games next weekend. The Giants could very well be back in first place a week from now.*
As for M-V-Posey? He may not have the entire body of work to compare with Clayton Kershaw or Giancarlo Stanton, who are considered the favorites at this point for the NL award. His season line is .310/.361/.494 with 20 homers and 79 RBIs. But some voters won't give Kershaw a nod because he's a pitcher and doesn't play every day. Others might not vote for Stanton because his team won't make the postseason.*
Posey probably won't win the NL MVP this year, but if he keeps up his torrid pace and the Giants catch the Dodgers, he's sure going to get a lot more votes than he would have even a couple weeks ago.

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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz