Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Gabe Kapler excused Mauricio Dubon last week. The manager called the super utilityman’s few-game pause a “mental reset,” admitting the team has thrown a lot at the former strictly middle infielder.
This week, it has been Brandon Crawford who has been out of the lineup for three games straight, all against opposing lefties, the final Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Kapler did not cite mental or physical breaks, and he did not proclaim that Crawford is his everyday shortstop.
Instead, he said the Giants are putting the best team on the field that they can. And against southpaws, that means Crawford does not see the field.
“It’s really about getting the other guys on the roster looks,” said Kapler, who is playing Dubon at shortstop and Donovan Solano at second, two players who in spring training 1.0 “we wanted to see against lefties and lefties specifically.”
Instead, what has happened is Solano, who is batting .447, cannot be removed from the lineup regardless of the pitcher on the mound. Dubon has begun swinging better, batting .300 this month, and the lineup is packed with righty hitters, the only exception being Mike Yastrzemski.
“This is much more about the good work they can do,” Kapler said over Zoom, focusing on the replacements rather than the replaced. Kapler never used the p-word, but it sure sounds as if the struggling Crawford is now in a platoon.
Few Giants bats looked better during camps 1.0 and 2.0 than the 33-year-old’s, who retooled his swing this offseason with the new hitting minds. But through 15 games, the results have not been promising. At 7-for-37, Crawford is hitting .189. He’s hitless in eight at-bats against lefties. He is yet to hit for extra bases against any pitcher.
Digging deeper, Crawford has hit 40 percent of his batted balls hard, which is actually the best of his career. He is pulling more balls than ever but has turned just 20 percent of his batted balls into flyballs, the lowest of his career. The contact is there, but it’s going south too often.
“I looked at Brandon’s at-bats very closely,” said Kapler, who said he has spoken at length with Crawford on occasions about his playing-time decisions. “I think his swing looks fine, I think he’s made some solid contact. When guys hit the ball their hardest, we would like it to be in the air. But I’m fine with the quality of Brandon’s at-bats thus far, and I think he’s done a fine job.”
Crawford has been much more needed for his glove, which settles an erratic Giants defense. The Giants are trying to win games while trying to “learn as much as we can,” Kapler said, and sitting Crawford against lefties allows them to see fresher faces whose righty bats give them a better chance.
After the three straight lefties, the Giants will see a string of righties beginning Sunday with Walker Buehler in the Dodger Stadium series finale. Among the things the Giants will be learning is how Crawford adjusts to more time on the bench.
Here’s tonight’s full lineup behind Johnny Cueto, who will be making his 300th career start:
1. Austin Slater, RF
2. Donovan Solano, 2B
3. Mike Yastrzemski, CF
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. Wilmer Flores, 1B
6. Hunter Pence, LF
7. Darin Ruf, DH
8. Chadwick Tromp, C
9. Mauricio Dubon, SS