Giants' Buster Posey Won't Play This Season to Protect the Health of Newborn Twins amid Coronavirus

Buster Posey will not be participating in the 2020 baseball season.

The San Francisco Giants catcher, 33, opted out of playing this year in order to protect the health of his two new infant daughters, whom he and wife Kristen adopted this week. The twins, Ada and Livvi, were born eight weeks premature on July 3, ESPN reported.

"So I know it's been mentioned how I've missed several practices over the last week and I want to address that," Posey began a Zoom call with reporters on Friday.

"A week ago today, identical twin girls were born that my wife and I are adopting," he said, sharing that the adoption became official on Thursday afternoon. "My wife, myself and our older children are just overwhelmed with joy to welcome them to our family, to love them unconditionally, and just share life with them."

Posey and Kristen are already parents to twins Lee Dempsey and Addison Lynn, 8.

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"The twins were born prematurely," he said. "Thank God, they are doing really well, but they're going to have to be in the NICU for quite some time."

Because of the twins' at-risk health status, Posey then announced that he has "decided to opt out of the 2020 baseball season," saying it was a choice that he has "wrestled with quite a bit" ever since he knew that the adoption "was on the table."

"We feel this is the best decision for these babies, and for our family as well," he said.

The Giants issued a statement on Friday saying that the organization stood by the athlete's decision.

"The Giants fully support Buster's decision," the statement said. "Buster is an integral part of our team and will be sorely missed, but we look forward to having him back in 2021."

buster posey/instagram Buster Posey with wife Kristen and kids Lee and Addison

"In the current state that we are right now and these babies being as fragile as they are for the next four months, at minimum, this ultimately wasn't that difficult a decision for me," Posey added, per ESPN. "From a baseball standpoint, it was a tough decision. From a family standpoint and feeling like making a decision to protect our children, I think it was relatively easy."

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The MLB recently announced its plan to resume professional baseball amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, setting opening day for July 23. Several players and MLB staff have contracted the virus over the past few months.

The MLB said in a press release obtained by PEOPLE in June that the "health and safety of players and employees will remain MLB’s foremost priorities in its return to play," and that the league "is working with a variety of public health experts, infectious disease specialists and technology providers on a comprehensive approach that aims to facilitate a safe return."

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