San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford has always been known as a glove-first player. This year, he's making noise with his bat, too.
Brandon Crawford is developing into an all-star shortstop
The Giants’ starting shortstop has come a long way since hitting .204/.288/.296 in his first big league season.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Crawford entered the Giants' game against the Miami Marlins on Thursday hitting .253/.363/.494 in 102 plate appearances. That's good for a 142 OPS+, which ranks first among National League shortstops and 14th in the league overall. That's right, Crawford, through the first month of the season, is a better hitter than Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Desmond, Jhonny Peralta, Jean Segura and many, many others.
It’s not like Crawford’s improvement has come out of nowhere, either. His OPS+ has increased every season, culminating in a 105 OPS+ in 2014, the first year of his career in which he was an above-average hitter. Not only has Crawford hit for a little more power each year, but he’s gotten on-base at a higher clip, too. Since posting a .288 OBP in his rookie season, Crawford steadily increased that number to .304 (in ‘12), .311 (‘13), .324 (‘14) and this year, .363.
Crawford’s improvement is largely a result of two factors. First, the 28-year-old lefty swinger has gotten better at drawing walks. In his first full season, just 6.9 percent of Crawford’s plate appearances ended in a walk. That number went up to 7.6 in 2013 and 10.5 percent last season. So far in 2015, Crawford is drawing walks at a 12.7 percent clip, good for 10th in the NL.
Perhaps more importantly, Crawford is hitting the ball hard, a skill that he has improved upon drastically since his rookie campaign:
Brandon Crawford hard-hit rate 2011: 18% 2012: 29% 2013: 25% 2014: 29% 2015: 39%
— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) May 7, 2015
All the while, Crawford remains one of the better defensive shortstops in the game. He's been a positive contributor at his position in terms of defensive runs saved in each of his five big league seasons. Crawford has been worth 27 runs at shortstop since his arrival in the league in 2011, a figure that ranks behind only Andrelton Simmons, Clint Barmes and Zack Cozart during that time.
Crawford’s track record suggests he probably won’t keep up a 142 OPS+ for the remainder of the season. After all, his HR/FB rate won’t stay north of 21 percent for much longer. But there’s enough other stuff to like, such as an increased line drive rate and decreased weak contact, to suggest Crawford has a great chance to once again improve upon his figure from the previous season.
That, combined with continued excellence in the field, could net the two-time World Series champion the first all-star selection of his career come July.
See More:
