Posey making progress, walks without crutches

It was a busy day for Buster Posey. He spent his Saturday morning speaking to a couple of thousand fans at AT&T Park and reached another milestone in his recovery from ankle surgery, taking his first steps without crutches.

“I took a couple of laps around the weight room,” Posey said. “Everything felt great. … Hopefully, within 2-3 days, I can completely ditch this thing (his one crutch) and just wear the boot.”

Posey said he has been bearing weight on his ankle for the past 10 days or so while wearing the walking boot. He said he hopes to catch some bullpen sessions and hit off a tee before the season ends.

“It’s all dependent on how much progress we make in the next month or so,” Posey said.

Posey also hopes to start working on strengthening his legs, which he hasn’t been able to do since his home-plate collision with Florida’s Scott Cousins on May 25.

“Our trainers have a plan, and I think it’s important not to deviate from that,” Posey said. “Could I probably push some things harder than I should? Yeah, but I think we risk some setbacks. I want this thing to be good as new when I’m finally able to use it again.”

The injury bug continues to bite the Giants. After Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Colorado, the Giants announced rookie first baseman Brandon Belt has a small fracture in his left wrist and was being placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 1.

Belt, who was hit on the wrist by St. Louis pitcher Trevor Miller on Tuesday, had missed four games. He appeared to be making significant progress, but an MRI taken on the wrist Saturday morning revealed the fracture.

“It’s not that bad,” Belt said. “It’s just a hairline fracture, a little bit chipped off just a tad.”

Belt was surprised by the news considering how quickly he seemed to be improving.

“I didn’t expect it to get well in a few days, but it did,” he said. “It took huge leaps and bounds from Day One, so I didn’t think anything of it. I just figured in the next few days, I’d be all right, ready to go. But they found that break in there, so it’ll be a little more time than we thought.”

The Giants called up infielder Conor Gillaspie from Triple-A Fresno to replace Belt on the roster.

Belt said he’s been told it’ll take the bone in his wrist a month to fully heal.

“I’ll be able to get back in there as soon as I can get a bat in my hand and swing it full speed, so I don’t expect it to take a month,” he said. “Hopefully, a week or two at the most. I just want to make sure I give it the proper rest it needs to make sure it heals properly, so when I do start playing

again, it’s not acting up throughout the whole season.”