Giants’ Crawford: still quite able, reliable
The San Francisco Giants led by 11 runs in Friday’s ninth inning, so lopsided a game that Donovan Walton, an infielder, was pitching.
It was just a matter of getting the final outs and getting off the field without getting hurt. And then …
“And here’s a grounder up the middle … Crawford dives … gets up and throws … he got ’em.”
After all these years, shortstop Brandon Crawford is still getting it done, still making the plays, still strutting effortless artistry, still a joy to watch.
Crawford didn’t need to dive for the grounder hit by Miami’s Miguel Rojas, not with the game in the bag, but he knew the ball was within his reach. That’s the instinct, skill and drive in Crawford that hasn’t gone away at age 35 and in his 12th season in the big leagues.
The Giants have had a so-so season compared with their historic 107win run in 2021, and many of their key players from last year have either played below par or missed a significant chunk of the schedule.
Though first baseman Brandon Belt, second baseman Tommy La Stella and third baseman Evan Longoria have played fewer than half the games, and La Stella still hasn’t started a game at second, Crawford has been a dependable and durable shortstop who has appeared in more games than anyone on the roster except Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores.
Crawford isn’t playing to his 2021 level; the OPS is way down, and the advanced defensive metrics aren’t kind to the four-time Gold Glover. But clearly, it’s easy to see that Crawford is the heart and soul of the Giants’ defense — especially with Buster Posey retired — and remains a valuable asset even though he might not have all the quickness and range he had 10 years ago.
But who would? “I think I play a lot smarter defense,” Crawford said. “I’m better at reading hops, giving myself a better hop, reading the ball off the bat, slowing it down a little bit, where 10 years ago, I was trying to go get everything and do everything as fast as I could, and that led to a lot of errors early in my career that were unnecessary.”
Two plays early in the Giants’ recent 10-game trip exemplify Crawford’s value. In consecutive innings in Cincinnati, Crawford made tremendous backhanded plays by ranging to the outfield grass to glove sharp grounders and delivering long, strong throws to first base.
Brandon Drury’s grounder brought Crawford to one knee, and he quickly popped up and threw a fastball across the diamond.
Crawford ranged a little further for Albert Almora Jr.’s two-hopper, and after gloving it, his momentum took him further into the grass, a bit more off balanced this time, yet he still was able to loft his throw with plenty of force.
Both Drury and Almora were retired by several steps.
Both times, after making the play, without any emotion, he turned to the outfield and flashed fingers to notify his teammates the number of outs. As if the play was routine, ho-hum, something any shortstop easily could do. Yeah, right.
Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, a broadcaster with the Reds, his hometown team and the only team for which he played — sound familiar, Crawford fans? — was impressed with how the Giants’ shortstop made the plays look easy.
“I was, like, ‘Whoa,’ ” Larkin said. “To the naked eye or to an average fan, it just looks like a routine play. Well, he just makes it look so smooth and has great footwork. Big fan.”
Walton, who was on the field as the Giants’ second baseman, said, “I just kind of laughed because I used to watch that on TV, and now it’s right there in front of me.”
Walton, 28, said he tried to copy some of Crawford’s defensive tendencies as a young middle infielder watching the World Series and World Baseball Classic along with YouTube videos: approaching grounders, taking the right angles, knowing how hard to throw the ball.
“I tried to emulate him in high school and college,” Walton said. “It’s awesome playing with him now. If there’s something he notices, he’ll mention it to me, and he’s the first one to say, ‘Hey, nice play.’ ”
Crawford has been around long enough to play with 43 second basemen. Joe Panik played with him the most (566 games), followed by Marco Scutaro (154) and Donovan Solano (153).
Walton, acquired May 11 from the Mariners, is the latest to join the list, and Crawford said he appreciates that Walton “seems like a shortstop playing second. When the ball’s hit between us, he wants to go get it. That’s what the shortstop is taught. He’s athletic and has really good hands.”
The list likely will grow with Crawford’s two-year extension running through next season. He said he welcomes his many double-play partners “because you get to know a bunch of different guys. It’s also nice to have a regular second baseman you have a lot of time with and things start to become natural and there isn’t any communication that has to happen.
“It’s cool to stick around in any organization for a long time because it means you’re probably doing something right, especially for me, obviously, with the Giants because I grew up a Giants fan in the Bay Area.”