San Francisco Giants Finally Know What They Have with Brandon Crawford

After a couple of up-and-down seasons, it looks like the San Francisco Giants finally know what they have in shortstop Brandon Crawford.

The San Francisco Giants are looking for any semblance of consistency from their lineup going forward, and I think they’ll get that from Crawford.

After looking like a defensive first shortstop for five years to start his career, Crawford finished 12th in the MVP voting in 2016 after hitting .275 with a .342 on-base percentage.

At that time, a lot of people thought we had finally seen the talented shortstop unlock his offensive potential.

But the following year, 2017, he regressed back to his normal levels hitting .253 with a .305 on-base percentage. The on-base mark was actually a bit lower than his normal levels.

So the 2018 season was big for Crawford to determine if 2016 was an aberration or not.

It turns out that maybe he isn’t the offensive threat that we thought he might be — but that’s alright.

Now we know what to expect from the 31-year-old shortstop, and for me, knowing what the expect from a player is a lot more valuable.

Maybe Crawford has another breakout season in his future, but at the very least we know to expect around a .250/.320 slash line with around 15 home runs, 60-70 runs, and 60-70 RBI.

And of course, we know he’s going to play Gold Glove-caliber defense for 140-plus games. From 2012-to-2018 he’s played in at least 143 games a year.

With three years left on his contract, making $15.2 million a year, it’s nice to know what the San Francisco Giants are going to get from their talented shortstop.

When the San Francisco Giants evaluates this team in the offseason, they can skip over the shortstop position.

To me, Crawford is one of the more valuable players on this team because of his consistency.

While he may not be the MVP candidate some thought he would become offensively, he’s one of the best defenders and the game and swings the bat well enough for it not to be a detriment.