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They have not used the p-word, Brandon Crawford said. It has not been that direct.
But the word doesn’t need to be breathed for it to exist. Crawford sees that he is sliding into a platoon he does not enjoy.
“I think all of my days off have been against lefties,” Crawford said over Zoom on Friday, before the Giants were set to face off with Oakland lefty Jesus Luzardo at Oracle Park, Crawford again out of the lineup. “I’m trying to get in there every day and working hard to try to do that.”
Crawford is in the Catch-22 that so many get caught up in when dealing with platoons: without the rhythm that comes with consistent at-bats, it’s difficult to make an argument for more at-bats, which would help that rhythm.
Crawford said it’s “more difficult” to find the right swing when he’s only playing against opposing righties. He has not hit to start the season after not having hit all last year, and for the first time in his 10-year career, he is seeing the bench often.
“Not something I’m used to. Not something I’m necessarily thrilled about,” said Crawford, who wants to hit his way out of the situation. “…In my small amount of chances against lefties, I’m maybe pressing a little bit too much to maybe show something to be able to be in there against the next lefty that we face. Maybe putting a little too much pressure on that. I continue to put good at-bats together and hit the ball hard and hope to get in there every day.”
The sample size is tiny, but the 33-year-old is 0-for-10 with three strikeouts against lefties. The numbers are not terribly better against righties, against whom he is slashing .208/.263/.208 without an extra-base hit in 57 plate appearances.
The advanced metrics paint a curious picture: Crawford is hitting the ball his hardest since 2015. His average exit velocity is 89.6 mph, up from last year’s 87.8. But concerning is the batted ball’s destination: According to Fangraphs, 26.2 percent of his batted balls are fly balls, the lowest of his career and down from last year’s 28.4 percent.
Getting the ball in the air was a goal for Crawford this offseason, when he revamped his swing with the new hitting minds. In the past week, he has begun undoing some of the changes that were made as he (and the coaches) tries to find a formula that works. He called the offseason overhaul “too much all at once.”
“I closed my stance a little bit more. It’s still not straight up with the pitcher or anything like that or closed by any means. But it’s not quite as open as it was before,” said Crawford, who’s hitting .208. “And then my hands are a little bit further back. That was something that I did on my own — that wasn’t something that the hitting coaches wanted me to do. For some reason my hands started creeping forward a little too far, and it was taking too long I think for me to get loaded, which caused my timing to be off.”
He has liked the results in the past few days, 4-for-12 entering play Friday. Of course, he isn’t in Friday’s lineup, which makes finding that consistency difficult.
He and Gabe Kapler have had conversations about Crawford’s playing time, and his manager said he appreciates that his shortstop wants to be in the lineup every day. But he also said Donovan Solano has made himself a lineup necessity regardless of the opposing pitcher.
Of course, similarly struggling Mauricio Dubon is starting at shortstop in Crawford’s stead.
“We’ve seen flashes of aggressive swings,” said Kapler of Crawford, who will have to prove he can hit righties before he can prove he can hit lefties.