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Crawford has hit 3 home runs in the last 3 days. He hit two home runs today off of Kyle Lohse, the first one being a blast to center field on the first pitch of the game.[REDACTED]Comment
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The analysis of Carl Crawford's succes this season continues:
Follow the ESPN link to view a neat Hot Zone thingy.Carl Crawford homered twice on Sunday, and with 100 plate appearances behind him for 2013, this seems like a good time to look at different aspects of his performance.
Crawford is trying to get back to being the player he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. The previous two seasons were hindered by ineffectiveness and eventually reconstructive elbow sugery.
Let’s go through a few important parts to his game in 2013.
He’s chasing less
Crawford has regularly been a free swinger, but in 2013 he seems to be more willing to let pitches out of the strike zone go without a hack.
He’s seen nearly 200 so far this season and has gone after them at a rate of about once every five pitches (21 percent).
That’s a considerable difference from Crawford, even when he was going well in Tampa Bay. His chase rate over the previous four seasons has typically hovered at around 35 percent.
Crawford has also been very discerning when it comes to pitches on the outer-half of the plate, or just off the outside corner, as the “chase rate” numbers are very similar to his overall numbers.
His first homer Sunday came on a pitch on the outside edge, his third homer against an outer-half pitch this season. He totaled five homers against those pitches over the previous two seasons.
He’s been a first-pitch masher
The other thing about that first home run is that it came on the first pitch he saw from Kyle Lohse. Crawford hit .426 in the first pitch of at bats in his last two seasons with the Rays. That dropped to .258 in 2011 and 2012.
This season, Crawford has started hot against first pitches. He is 8-for-11 against them with a triple and a homer.
He’s been comfortable against the offspeed pitch
Crawford’s second homer Sunday came against an 0-2 slider from Lohse, the third time this season he’s hit an offspeed pitch out. Crawford is 16-for-42 (.381 batting average) against offspeed pitches this season.
That includes 13 hits in 26 at-bats that ended with an offspeed pitch in the strike zone. He's swinging more often than usual against those pitches and letting more of the out-of-zone ones go by.
What to watch for: Defense
Crawford rated as one of the game’s best defenders statistically from 2008 to 2010, but did not put up good defensive stats in 2011 and 2012 and is best remembered for being unable to handle a line drive on the final play of the 2011 Red Sox season.
Earlier in the week Crawford had a couple of dicey defensive moments against the Mets, pulling up short on one fly ball that hit the outfield wall, and failing to corral an important line drive in the ninth inning in another instance.
But so far, the early returns on his defensive stats have been respectable. He entered Sunday with only one other play judged a “Defensive Misplay” on video review this season.
Crawford, who averaged 10 Defensive Runs Saved per season from 2008 to 2010, has been credited with one so far in 2013.[REDACTED]Comment
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We've reached the century mark with 100 plate appearances:
88 ABs, 20 Runs, 27 Hits, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 4 SB, 2 CS, 9 BB, 16 Ks
Slash line: .307/.390/.523 OPS: .913
Extra stats: wOBA .395, BABIP .338, BB/K 0.56
Also, some Orioles fan flipped him off:
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Carl Crawford has completed his rehab assignment and will rejoin the team on Friday in San Francisco.
As for the big club - after 200 plate appearances in 50 games - his slash line is at .301/.358/.470 with 9 stolen bases and 1.9 WAR (FanGraphs).Carl Crawford played in his fourth and final rehab game as part of the star outfielder's rehab assignment with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers High-A affiliate, on Wednesday night.
Crawford, slotted as the team's designated hitter after playing consecutive games in left field, went 1-for-3 with a walk and stolen base. In his four rehab games with the Quakes, Crawford hit 5-13 with a walk, two runs scored and three runs batted in.
Scott Van Slyke probably ends up being the odd man out, which is a shame.[REDACTED]Comment
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After a shaky return from the DL, Carl seems to be improving. Hitting leadoff during this road trip, Crawford has a stat line of: 28 Plate Appearances, 11 hits, 3 doubles, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, and one stolen base. That's a slash line of .423/.464/.538 for the month of August.[REDACTED]Comment
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Crawford finished 2013 with 2.9 WAR in 116 games (8th among RF, 450 AB minimum). His wOBA of .322 pegged in him the middle of pack, but clearly not an offensive liability.After two seasons ravaged by injury in Boston, Carl Crawford enjoyed a relatively healthy and productive season in his first year in Los Angeles. Here is a look at his 2013 campaign with the Dodgers.
What went right
Crawford was on fire in April, hitting .308/.388/.516 with 20 runs scored and through May 6 led the Dodgers with five home runs.
He also hit 1.000/1.000/2.000 in June, but unfortunately that was limited to two doubles in two at-bats.
Crawford also provided solid range in left field, a welcome relief after watching the likes of Juan Rivera, Bobby Abreu and occasionally Jay Gibbons occupy the position in recent years. Crawford was fourth among MLB left fielders in both Ultimate Zone Rating (8.6 runs above average) and Total Zone Rating (eight runs above average).
In the playoffs Crawford hit .310/.356/.619 and led the Dodgers with four home runs, including two home runs in Game 4 of the NLDS to help close out the Braves.
What went wrong
Not that power is necessarily a part of his game, but Crawford after his early power surge he went 85 full games and 347 plate appearances without a home run from May 7 to Sept. 26.
Crawford missed 30 games with a strained left hamstring in June, and struggled after his return, hitting just .225/.257/.268 in July.
2014 status
Crawford has four years and $82.5 million remaining on his contract, and will be paid $20.25 million next year. He'll likely man left field for the Dodgers again in 2014, but with four starting outfielders currently on the roster the question could be how often.
Looking back, after the trade it was a reasonable Dodger fans hope to merely avoid a disaster (as in, not expect much). Going forward, clearly o one expects him to live up to his contract in terms of value, but if he can keep it up as far as playing above-average defense with half-decent hitting and his baserunning skills, then at least he's not an albatross on the 25-man roster.
Last season, he was expected to be the leadoff guy. I'm hoping to see him moved down in the order and someone with a higher OBP like Puig leading off. Everyone is well-aware of the Dodgers' 4-man outfield, so we'll see how it all works out with that. Perhaps it'll mean less playing time that leads to better health throughout the season. Then we'll get to see what a healthy Carl Crawford is capable of in a Dodgers uniform.
Crawford is projected by basically everyone to produce a repeat of his 2013 in 2014.[REDACTED]Comment
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