Tag Archives: Brandon Crawford

August 13, 2021

Crawford Extended

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The Giants signed shortstop Brandon Crawford to a two-year, $32 million extension. He is now under contract through the 2023 season:

Crawford’s reliable play in the infield and his offense are big reasons the Giants have the best record in the majors and lead the talented NL West in a year they have surprised the reigning World Series champion Dodgers and San Diego.

ESPN.com

This reminds me a bit of the Chris Davis deal, in that the signing is based on a comeback season after a weak year. Luckily, a two-year contract can’t do that much damage.

July 10, 2021

No Cycle

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The Giants made an odd move in their 10-4 win over the Nationals Saturday afternoon. Brandon Crawford homered in the bottom of the sixth inning for a three for three day, adding to a single, double, and sacrifice fly. The Giants then pulled a double switch to put the pitcher in Crawford’s slot. It’s odd for two reasons; the pitcher’s spot made the last out in the inning, and Crawford slot was going to come up again with him having a chance for the cycle. I assume that manager Gabe Kapler wanted to rest Crawford in a blowout, but when one has a chance at a feat, I would think the player would want the opportunity. Crawford has a triple this season and 39 for his career, so it’s not like there was no chance of him legging one out.

June 9, 2021

Best Batter Today

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Tuesday night brought a bit of a shakeup to the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr.and Marcus Semien remain in the top two slots. Guerrero singled and walks twice to keep the top slot, while Semien singled in five trips to stay in second. The White Sox won the game 6-1.

Carlos Correa of the Astros jumps into third place with a great game in a 7-1 win over the Red Sox. Correa goes three for five with a double and a home run. He collected multiple hits nine times in his 23 game hot streak.

Max Muncy of the Dodgers posts a two for five night in a 5-3 win over the Pirates to hold fourth place. Dropping to fifth place is Jesse Winker of the Reds. He goes one for five in a 5-1 Brewers win.

The best game score of the night goes to Brandon Crawford of the Giants. He goes two for three with two home runs and two walks for a total of 82 points. After a fine 2016 season, Crawford’s offense was down the next three season. He made a bit of a resurgence in 2020, and stepped it up so far in 2021. His 14 home runs this season ties his second best season mark, and his high of 21 home runs in 2015 is well in sight.

June 28, 2018

Beat the Streak Picks

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Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

For 2018, I am just going to publish the Log5 hit averages and the NN probabilities with parks factored in. I am keeping track of the results here. I added a graph that gives a visual representation of the probability and success each day.

I have been asked to expand the list to the top 25 players for an econometric project.

First, the Log5 Method picks:

0.314 — Brandon Crawford batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.306 — Andrelton Simmons batting against Brian Johnson.
0.304 — Adam Jones batting against Mike Leake.
0.299 — Jean Segura batting against Jimmy Yacabonis.
0.298 — Buster Posey batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.295 — Manny Machado batting against Mike Leake.
0.293 — Gorkys Hernandez batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.292 — Gerardo Parra batting against Chris Stratton.
0.288 — J.D. Martinez batting against Jaime Barria.
0.285 — Albert Almora batting against Clayton Kershaw.
0.284 — Mike Trout batting against Brian Johnson.
0.284 — Danny Valencia batting against Mike Leake.
0.283 — Alen Hanson batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.282 — Brandon Belt batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.281 — J.T. Realmuto batting against Zack Greinke.
0.281 — Nolan Arenado batting against Chris Stratton.
0.280 — Nick Hundley batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.277 — Mookie Betts batting against Jaime Barria.
0.277 — Charlie Blackmon batting against Chris Stratton.
0.275 — Eddie Rosario batting against Lucas Giolito.
0.274 — Jesus Aguilar batting against Anthony DeSclafani.
0.274 — Austin Jackson batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.274 — DJ LeMahieu batting against Chris Stratton.
0.271 — Christian Yelich batting against Anthony DeSclafani.
0.271 — Andrew McCutchen batting against Jonathan Gray.

There is a very light schedule today, allowing Brandon Crawford to pop to the top of the list. I will note that Gray is pitching in San Francisco tonight, and his home/road split is such that you might want to take Crawford’s ranking with a grain of salt. Crawford is 4 for 9 career against Gray, and McCutchen is one of the best hitters against Gray at 7 for 12.

Here is how the NN with Park ranks the players:

0.299, 0.741 — Jean Segura batting against Jimmy Yacabonis.
0.268, 0.735 — Jose Altuve batting against Ryne Stanek.
0.288, 0.722 — J.D. Martinez batting against Jaime Barria.
0.292, 0.719 — Gerardo Parra batting against Chris Stratton.
0.304, 0.719 — Adam Jones batting against Mike Leake.
0.306, 0.717 — Andrelton Simmons batting against Brian Johnson.
0.285, 0.717 — Albert Almora batting against Clayton Kershaw.
0.314, 0.714 — Brandon Crawford batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.269, 0.713 — Scooter Gennett batting against Junior Guerra.
0.275, 0.708 — Eddie Rosario batting against Lucas Giolito.
0.277, 0.706 — Charlie Blackmon batting against Chris Stratton.
0.281, 0.706 — J.T. Realmuto batting against Zack Greinke.
0.298, 0.705 — Buster Posey batting against Jonathan Gray.
0.295, 0.705 — Manny Machado batting against Mike Leake.
0.281, 0.704 — Nolan Arenado batting against Chris Stratton.
0.270, 0.703 — Dee Gordon batting against Jimmy Yacabonis.
0.262, 0.701 — Matt M Duffy batting against Lance McCullers.
0.274, 0.701 — DJ LeMahieu batting against Chris Stratton.
0.277, 0.701 — Mookie Betts batting against Jaime Barria.
0.270, 0.696 — Matt Kemp batting against Jose Quintana.
0.245, 0.694 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Ryne Stanek.
0.255, 0.693 — Nick Castellanos batting against Sean Manaea.
0.269, 0.690 — Jon Jay batting against Trevor Richards.
0.284, 0.689 — Danny Valencia batting against Mike Leake.
0.284, 0.689 — Mike Trout batting against Brian Johnson.

A very different ranking. Segura faces Yacabonis, who only has 23 MLB innings under his belt. The NN will see him as pretty much a league average pitcher, but he walks a lot of batters. Again, this is a ranking that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Segura is the consensus first pick as well.

Remember, your best pick will fail about 25% of the time. Good luck!

June 12, 2018

Best Batter Today

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Mike Trout regains the top spot in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after hitting two home runs Monday night. That wasn’t enough for the Angels as they fell to the Mariners 5-3. Nelson Cruz hit two homers for Seattle. Jose Ramirez‘s 1 for 5 drops him to third place, as the idle Freddie Freeman moves into second. Brandon Crawford and the hot Jose Martinez round out the top five. Like yesterday, one through nine in the rankings are separated by less than ten points.

June 11, 2018

Beat the Streak Picks

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Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

For 2018, I am just going to publish the Log5 hit averages and the NN probabilities with parks factored in. I am keeping track of the results here. I added a graph that gives a visual representation of the probability and success each day.

I have been asked to expand the list to the top 25 players for an econometric project.

First, the Log5 Method picks:

0.308 — Brandon Crawford batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.305 — Jose Martinez batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.290 — Buster Posey batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.287 — Marcell Ozuna batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.286 — Jean Segura batting against Andrew Heaney.
0.280 — Jon Jay batting against Joe Musgrove.
0.279 — J.D. Martinez batting against Dylan Bundy.
0.276 — Michael Brantley batting against Lucas Giolito.
0.276 — Yadier Molina batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.275 — Jose Abreu batting against Carlos Carrasco.
0.275 — Starlin Castro batting against Madison Bumgarner.
0.274 — David Peralta batting against Joe Musgrove.
0.273 — Eric Hosmer batting against Jack Flaherty.
0.272 — Gorkys Hernandez batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.269 — J.T. Realmuto batting against Madison Bumgarner.
0.268 — Brian Anderson batting against Madison Bumgarner.
0.268 — Matt M Duffy batting against Sam J Gaviglio.
0.267 — Alen Hanson batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.266 — Nick Hundley batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.266 — Jose Pirela batting against Jack Flaherty.
0.265 — Albert Almora batting against Junior Guerra.
0.265 — Thomas Pham batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.265 — Corey Dickerson batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.263 — Austin Jackson batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.260 — Derek Dietrich batting against Madison Bumgarner.

Crawford, at seasonal age 31, is hitting well above his career norms. He’s been strong both home and away. Note that these hit averages against are not particularly high. There’s a light schedule today, so a number of the better streak hitters are not playing.

Here is how the NN with Park ranks the players:

0.286, 0.737 — Jean Segura batting against Andrew Heaney.
0.305, 0.730 — Jose Martinez batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.308, 0.718 — Brandon Crawford batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.279, 0.711 — J.D. Martinez batting against Dylan Bundy.
0.276, 0.710 — Michael Brantley batting against Lucas Giolito.
0.287, 0.707 — Marcell Ozuna batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.290, 0.707 — Buster Posey batting against Wei-Yin Chen.
0.265, 0.706 — Albert Almora batting against Junior Guerra.
0.268, 0.705 — Matt M Duffy batting against Sam J Gaviglio.
0.265, 0.704 — Corey Dickerson batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.275, 0.700 — Jose Abreu batting against Carlos Carrasco.
0.275, 0.697 — Starlin Castro batting against Madison Bumgarner.
0.280, 0.697 — Jon Jay batting against Joe Musgrove.
0.273, 0.694 — Eric Hosmer batting against Jack Flaherty.
0.276, 0.692 — Yadier Molina batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.274, 0.689 — David Peralta batting against Joe Musgrove.
0.269, 0.688 — J.T. Realmuto batting against Madison Bumgarner.
0.257, 0.687 — Eduardo Nunez batting against Dylan Bundy.
0.254, 0.687 — Jose Ramirez batting against Lucas Giolito.
0.248, 0.686 — Dee Gordon batting against Andrew Heaney.
0.251, 0.683 — Wilson Ramos batting against Sam J Gaviglio.
0.259, 0.682 — Christian Yelich batting against Jose Quintana.
0.266, 0.679 — Jose Pirela batting against Jack Flaherty.
0.240, 0.678 — Adam Jones batting against Steven Wright.
0.268, 0.677 — Brian Anderson batting against Madison Bumgarner.

Segura pops to the top of the NN list. I think this is a good example of the NN being more concerned about the long-term batter trend than short-term success. Crawford and Jose Martinez are tied for consensus first choice, however.

Remember, your best pick will fail about 25% of the time. Good luck!

June 11, 2018

Best Batter Today

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Jose Ramirez stays at the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, but there is a shakeup in the top five. Freddie Freeman moves from third to second after homering against the Dodgers on Sunday. Brandon Crawford vaults from ninth to third after a four for four day with two doubles and a home run. There was no bonus for getting three of those hits against Max Scherzer. Mookie Betts remains in fourth place, and an 0 for 5 drops Mike Trout to fifth. Ten points separate one through nine right now, so we could see quite a bit of movement over the next few days.

June 1, 2018

Players of the Month

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Mike Trout led May in OBP with an impressive .480 mark, 34 points higher than the next nearest player, Brandon Crawford. Crawford and Trout got to their high OBPs in different ways. Trout was a 30 hit, 30 walk player, while Crawford collected 42 hits and seven walks. Trout also played more games and came to the plate more, which makes his feat a little more real. Trout also posted a .698 slugging percentage, and stole seven bases in seven tries, so he excelled at every aspect of offense in the month.

Kudos to Crawford, who hit .412 for the month of May. Scooter Gennett fell a hit short at .398. Both posted outstanding months.

Mookie Betts led the majors in slugging percentage at .766, nine points ahead of Jose Ramirez. Betts played just 24 games, however, so Ramirez has better counting numbers. Ramirez is second in home runs to J.D. Martinez, third in doubles, tied for second in runs, and fourth in RBI. His OPS is about the same as Trout, but Ramirez did more damage, so Jose Ramirez is the Baseball Musings Offensive Player of the Month for May 2018.

There are also a plethora of pitchers who pitched well enough to deserve the May honor. Justin Verlander stands out immediately for his 0.86 ERA with impressive three-true outcome numbers. Jake Arrieta, however, is right behind Verlander at 0.90, but in 11 2/3 fewer innings. James Paxton led the majors in innings pitched and posted a 1.67 ERA and pitched two complete games. Daniel Mengden posted a 1.51 ERA in the same innings as Verlander, but struck out just 5.18 batters per nine innings. That is really impressive, since that K rate is among the lowest in the majors. Sean Newcomb went 5-0 with a 1.54 ERA and did not allow a home run.

When all factors are taken into account, Verlander comes out on top. He owns the best ERA with a high number of innings, and he was superior in all aspects of the game. Justin Verlander is the Baseball Musings Pitcher of the Month for May 2018.

November 17, 2015

Crawford Set for Life

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The Giants signed Brandon Crawford to a six-year contract:

He’s a shortstop who can hit, and that’s always valuable. He is in his late prime, so by the time he became a free agent, he would be past that. Shortstop is a young man’s position, so by signing now, he gets enough money to be set for life, and still be worth it to the Giants. Over the last three years, Crawford averaged about 3.5 rWAR per season. If he can put together three more seasons at that average, he’ll pay for the contract half-way through. It’s a great signing for both parties.

October 24, 2014

Giants Try a Comeback

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Brandon Crawford singles to start the bottom of the sxith inning, then Mike Morse pinch hits and grounds a double down the third base line for the Giants first run of the game. That cuts the Royals lead to 3-1, but it also brings on the Kansas City bullpen. Jeremy Guthrie Did not walk nor strike out a batter, as 18 balls were put in play, four resulting in hits.

Update: Kelvin Herrera comes on and walks Gregor Blanco. The Giants have the tying runs on first and second. Blanco is the first Giant not to put the ball in play.

Update: Joe Panik moves the runners up a base with a Baltimore chop, and the Royals are pitching to Buster Posey.

Update: Posey drives a run home with a ground out to second. The Royals lead the Giants 3-2.

Update: Pablo Sandoval grounds out to first to end the sixth. The Royals bend but don’t break as they are two-third of the way through the game with a 3-2 lead.

October 22, 2014

Hands of Stone

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Alcides Escobar reaches for the Royals in the bottom of the first on the second misplay of the series by Brandon Crawford. We’ll see if the Royals can convert with the extra out.

Update: Escobar is thrown out stealing with one out.

Update: Cain follows with a leg double. It probably would not have scored Escobar from first, but he would be at third with one out.

Update: Eric Hosmer walks to give Billy Butler a chance to be a hero.

Update: Butler delivers an RBI single, and the Royals and Giants are tied at one.

Update: Alex Gordon flies out to end the inning. The Royals used a one-run strategy, and scored just one run.

October 21, 2014

Error Threat

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Brandon Crawford boots a grounder to start the bottom of the third, and Mike Moustakas follows with a double to put runners on second and third for the Royals with no one out. The Giants lead the Royals 3-0, as James Shields settled down after the first inning.

Update: Alcides Escobar strikes out swinging. One down.

Update: Nori Aoki strikes out trying to check his swing. Madison Bumgarner is coming up big against a team known for putting the ball in play.

Update: Lorenzo Cain falls behind 0-2, then works the count full. The payoff pitch is low, and the bases are loaded with two out.

Update: Eric Hosmer swings at the first pitch and grounds out to second. Bumgarner does a great job of pitching out of a jam, and the Giants continue to lead 3-0 at the end of three.

October 1, 2014

Runs Brandoned In

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The Giants load the bases in the top of the seventh, and Brandon Belt delivers a two-run single to extend the lead over the Pirates to 7-0. Belt drove in three of the runs and Brandon Crawford drove in the other four with a grand slam as the Brandons rule the RBIs in the game.

Update: Pablo Sandoval gets a 10 for sticking the landing on a caught foul pop. He was on the edge of the third base dugout and flipped over. He held onto the rail with his arm, however, and made a soft landing on the fall and held onto the ball. He’s having a great game.

Update: The Giants keep hitting and score another run in the eighth to lead 8-0. The Pirates did not show up for this game.

October 27, 2012

Rare Bad Play

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Brandon Crawford made a great play to stop a Miguel Cabrera grounder from getting through the infield to start the bottom of the eighth. With two out, however, he makes a miscue on a Delmon Young grounder, bobbling the ball and then making a poor throw. Lincecum comes back, however, to strike out Andy Dirks, and San Francisco maintains their 2-0 lead over Detroit. Lincecum has now faced 16 batters in the series, one reaching on a walk and one on an error. Tim struck out eight of them.

April 23, 2012

What is the Sound of One Hand Fielding?

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Second baseman Emmanuel Burriss picked up a grounder up the middle and flipped it with his glove to shortstop Brandon Crawford. He caught it barehanded, then fired to first to complete the double play and get the Giants out of the bottom of the fifth. The Giants lead New York 6-1 as Tim Lincecum walked five and struck out eight so far.