Seattle Mariners Shortstop on Pace to Make Franchise History
The Seattle Mariners are looking to make their second postseason in three years and entered Saturday 5.0 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West and 2.0 games behind the Minnesota Twins (1.0 game behind the Detroit Tigers) for the final AL Wild Card spot.
The offense, which has drawn a lot of criticism over the course of the season, has been one of the better ones in the league in September, which has helped Seattle make up some ground in the playoff race.
But for one player, it hasn't been his offense that's been extraordinary this season. It's been his defense.
Mariners shortstop and 2020 Gold Glove winner JP Crawford hasn't been having the offensive season he probably would have wanted. He's hitting just .202 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs and missed over a month of the season (July 23-Aug. 28) with a right hand fracture.
But he's on pace to have one of the best defensive seasons of any Seattle shortstop ever.
Crawford leads AL shortstops with a .990 fielding percentage (minimum of 800 innings at the position), per Mariners PR. He's made just three errors in 308 total chances entering Saturday.
If Crawford can continue to maintain or exceeds that mark, it would be the best single-season fielding percentage for a Mariners shortstop in franchise history (min. 800 innings). The current record holder is Omar Vizquel, who had hit a mark of .989 in the 1992 season. Alex Rodriguez is third in that category with a .986 fielding percentage in 2000.
Crawford would also be the first AL shortstop to have a .990+ fielding percentage in almost a decade. Baltimore Orioles shortstop JJ Hardy had a .992 mark in 2015.
Most fans will probably look at Crawford's offense and be critical of that, but his defense has still made him a plus-player. He has a 2.3 WAR (wins above replacement) according to Baseball Reference and a 1.3 dWAR (defensive wins above replacement), which ranks 17th among all shortstops in the league, according to ESPN.
Weird play with no outs and runners on the corners. Alex Bregman lined a low shot at J.P. Crawford, who (pick your side) either couldn't handle it or saw Jose Altuve holding at first and dropped it intentionally, and began an easy 6-4-3 double play pic.twitter.com/iGN3uGHXfj
— Josh Kirshenbaum (@J_Kirshenbaum) July 21, 2024
Crawford's defense has been invaluable for Seattle. And it will likely continue to play an important roll as the season wraps up.
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