Case can be made that Crawford is the NL MVP
‘I’ve never seen a player have more of an impact’ Zaidi says
SAN FRANCISCO » During his 11-year major league career, Brandon Crawford has delivered some of the most clutch hits and jaw-dropping defensive plays in the Giants’ San Franciscoera history.
Crawford’s heroics have made home crowds erupt and sent crowds on the road into stunned silence, but on Monday night at Oracle Park, the shortstop experienced something different. After pulling into third base with a RBI
triple, his fourth hit of the game, in a 7-5 victory over the Mets, Crawford was greeted with “M-V-P” chants.
“It’s obviously nice to hear,” Crawford said. “It’s not something I’m ever thinking about while playing the game, but obviously we have the best fans in baseball, and to hear stuff like that is a nice feeling.”
The 34-year-old shortstop may not be thinking about his chances of winning the National League MVP, but the thought has crossed the mind of his manager and several teammates.
Two other players on the roster, Buster Posey
and Kris Bryant, have won the award, and each believes Crawford is deserving.
“I mean, his offensive numbers are outstanding, his defense is probably still underrated and a guy that’s really hit in a lot of different parts in the lineup, he’s been clutch, you could definitely see that being a possibility,” Posey said.
Bryant, who has only played with Crawford for two weeks, echoed that sentiment.
“The guy has been doing it all year long,” Bryant said. “Those chants and that attention can’t happen to a better dude. I feel like I’m getting to know him and what he’s all about. A great family. He’s really proven a lot of people wrong, and I just love stories like that. He works hard, he comes out here and keeps the group light and happy.”
Two years ago, Crawford finished the 2019 season with a .228 average and .654 OPS that made him one of the worst qualified hitters in the majors. With four hits
on Monday, he pulled his season average above .300 for the first time this season while his OPS shot up to .918.
Crawford’s .306 average heading into Tuesday’s game ranks sixth in the National League, his .918 OPS ranks eighth and his 4.8 bWAR is third behind only Max Muncy of the Dodgers and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres. Crawford may not finish the season ahead of Muncy, Tatis or even Bryce Harper of the Phillies in several offensive categories, but his MVP case is helped by playing for a first-place club that’s shocked the baseball world and by being the only candidate to rank in the top 10 defenders in the majors in Outs Above Average, a rangebased fielding metric.
“In my time in baseball, I’ve seen a lot of great individual seasons with the different organizations I’ve been in,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Friday. “The season that Craw has had this year, I’ve never seen a player have more of an impact on a team’s success than what he’s done.”
In the past several years, MVP voters have tended to look more closely at WAR,
OPS+ and wRC+ to evaluate the résumés of position players. Crawford ranks among the top 10 players in the NL in each of those categories, and he can also make the argument his production has often come at the most critical junctures of games for the Giants.
In 100 plate appearances with runners in scoring position this season, Crawford is batting .383 with a .480 on-base percentage and 14 extra-base hits. Only Muncy, who is batting .404 with runners in scoring position, has better overall numbers in those situations.
“I think (Crawford) is definitely in the running,” starter Kevin Gausman said of Crawford’s MVP chances. “He’s in the conversation. What he’s done for the team, at the position he plays, playing as much as he plays, facing lefties, facing righties, what he’s done this year has really been remarkable. I’m glad he’s on our team and that we get to watch it every night.”
Crawford isn’t the only Giants player likely to land on MVP ballots as Posey should receive votes, but with a remarkable run during the second half of the season, he’s turned an All-Star-caliber year into something more. The Giants hold a 4.0game lead in the National League West over a Dodgers team that’s still considered by many the favorite to win the pennant.
If Crawford keeps up his current pace and the Giants hold off Los Angeles to end the Dodgers’ eight-year run of finishing atop the division, it will be a stretch for voters to find a more deserving player with the kind of two-way impact Crawford has made this year to list atop their ballots.