Giants’ Crawford, Posey on NL All-Star team
In his eight seasons with the Giants, Brandon Crawford has felt a lot of love from the dozens of pitchers who have known that serving up a groundball to shortstop is a good way to go.
This year, fans across the country caught up and elected Crawford in a landslide to his first National League All-Star starting gig.
Joining him at Nationals Park in Washington on July 17 will be catcher Buster Posey, who lost a tight race to the Cubs’ Willson Contreras in fan voting but became a six-time All-Star when he won the player balloting.
A third Giant, first baseman Brandon Belt, could join Posey and Crawford if he wins the last-chance ballot on MLB.com that also has the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter, Brewers’ Jesus Aguilar, Dodgers’ Max Muncy and Nationals’ Trea Turner.
“Craw just had a terrific first half,”
manager Bruce Bochy said. “And Buster’s numbers ... he’s had to deal with a lot of nagging injuries and he’s still hovering around .290.”
Posey, who’s hitting .285, lost to Contreras in the closest NL race, with about 250,000 votes separating them.
Crawford, who went to the 2015 All-Star Game as a reserve, beat the Cubs’ Addison Russell by more than 1.4 million votes, the fourth-largest margin of victory in either league, behind AL second baseman Jose Altuve, NL first baseman Freddie Freeman and AL designated hitter J.D. Martinez.
“When you get that much fan support, it’s definitely special,” Crawford said. “I’m excited. I appreciate the votes from all fans, whether they were Giants fans or fans around the country. It’s going to be fun.”
Many Giants fans would prefer Posey to stay in San Francisco and rest, but he inevitably says he loves to go to the All-Star Game.
Posey was especially happy for Crawford, saying, “He’s been fun to watch. Obviously, the glove has been huge. The way he’s swinging the bat, he definitely deserves it.”
Crawford leads all NL shortstops with a .300 average. His .844 OPS ranks second to the Rockies’ Trevor Story.
Contreras and Miami’s J.T. Realmuto, who was placed on the NL team by manager Dave Roberts and the league, both are hitting better than Posey, who surely got a lot of player votes based on his catching.
Posey will go as a reserve for the third time. He also went as a starter three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2017.
The final-vote balloting that includes Belt will be open online until 1 p.m. Wednesday.