#6 Brandon Crawford, SS. AA .241/.337/.375 with 7 HR's in 291 AB's. A+ .167/.250/.222 in 18 AB's.
I was hoping 2010 would be a breakout year for Brandon Crawford, or at least good enough to put him in position to compete for the starting SS job in SF with Edgar Renteria's contract expiring. Although he had his moments, Crawford's season never really took off in AA Richmond and he eventually missed a large chunk of the season with a broken hand. I caught him in the Cal League playoffs and he hit a game winning grand slam HR to straightaway CF, but otherwise kind of struggled at the plate, at least in that game. Crawford is an excellent athlete and could probably step in and play the position in SF right now. The question is, and always has been, the hit tool. As a hitter, Crawford is generally regarded as having a high ceiling, but with some question whether he will ever reach it. He tends to be inconsistent. I would point out that his pre-injury IsoOBP(OBP-BA) is quite good. I feel like if the plate discipline is there, the hitting will eventually come around. If nothing else, he can contribute by drawing walks to get on base even if the BA remains fairly low. I could picture him having a Stephen Drew-like career, at least what Drew has done so far, which may be a bit disappointing for Drew, but is actually pretty darn good for the SS position.
Crawford needs at least another year of seasoning before he is ready for the show. That might not have been the case had it not been for the injury, but probably. I would like to see him be the starting SS in Fresno, but he might be back in Richmond to start the season. Since Tejada is on a 1 year contract, Crawford should have an opportunity in 2012 if he can put together a solid effort in 2011. He may drop a notch or two in this year's Top 50 Giants Prospects list.
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I'm pretty sure Crawford will be at AAA, because I'm pretty sure Adrianza will be at AA.
ReplyDeleteCrawford's BB% improved greatly, which is a good sign, but he has serious contact issues (.240 BA w/ a normal BABIP of .301, plus a K% of over 22%).
The good news is his defense is so good he only needs to contribute minimally with the bat to be a very valuable piece moving forward.
I heart Crawford. That is all.
ReplyDeleteBoth Crawford's BB% and K% trended in positive directions when comparing 2009 to 2010. It would be nice to see his line drive rate climb closer to 20%, though. But, as Dave said, the majority of his value will be with his defense.