Buster Posey misses first day of Giants practice

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey was excused from the first day of training for an undisclosed personal reason.

SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey is the Giants’ clubhouse and on-field leader, but he wasn’t at Oracle Park Friday for the first day of the team’s second preseason.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler announced that Posey was excused from camp to attend to a personal issue. Kapler said it’s not known when Posey will join the team in San Francisco.

Kapler did say that Posey tested negative for COVID-19. He also said that he’s not concerned that the possible future Hall of Fame catcher will be behind when he does arrive at camp, despite the regular season starting in less than three weeks.

“If he was behind by a day, if he’s behind by two days, the expectation is he’s not going to be behind by much,” Kapler said. “The other thing is if there’s anybody in our camp that knows how to prepare for a regular season… knows how to be built up for the workload, has an arm stroke and a body that can prepare quickly, it’s Buster.

“That being said when it comes to personal matters, we believe and I personally believe, that players can come back when the time is right for them. We prioritize their families, over all else.”

Posey’s absence leaves the Giants with three catchers in their 60-player pool, though Chadwick Tromp is in San Francisco and is expected to be formally added to the roster in the coming days.