The 2024 Topps Series 1 was released in mid-February. Once this product is released, you know that the baseball season is coming back soon. In mid-March, I bought some hobby packs of the 2024 Series 1.
As usual, I’m looking forward to getting some cool rookie cards. Nonetheless, I found a card that looks rare after opening the second pack. And I decided to check on some websites to search for more information. It turned out that I got a J.P. Crawford team color variation card. Well, I didn’t find any rookie cards that I was looking for. However, this card looks quite cool.
While looking at this card, I began to think about J.P. Crawford’s career with the Mariners.
Crawford was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round of the 2013 draft. He made it into the big leagues in 2017. He played 23 games in 2017 and in 2018, he played 49 games. In 2017 and 2018, he finished each season with a batting average of .214. In December 2018, Crawford was traded to the Mariners. By far, he already played 600+ games for the Mariners and crushed 45 home runs.
Well, Crawford isn’t a home run hitter. However, his contribution to the Mariners might be more than you think.
Looking at those shortstops who had at least 2000 plate appearances from 2019 to 2023, Xander Bogaerts had an on-base percentage of .370 and blasted 101 home runs. At the same time, Corey Seager and Trea Turner each had an on-base percentage over .350. Moreover, they each crushed more than 100 home runs during this period. Meanwhile, Carlos Correa had a .348 OBP and J.P. Crawford had an OBP of .345, which ranked 5th among those shortstops who had at least 2000 plate appearances over the last 5 seasons.
In addition, Crawford had a great 2023 season, slashing .266/.380/.438 with 19 home runs and 65 RBI over 145 games. He finished the 2023 season with an .818 OPS, which is the highest so far in his career. Furthermore, among qualified shortstops, Seager had an OPS over 1.000, which just showed how amazing he was in 2023. J.P. Crawford’s OPS of .818 ranked 2nd among qualified shortstops. At the same time, Bo Bichette, Bobby Witt Jr. and Francisco Lindor each had an OPS over .800 last season.
Looking at J.P. Crawford’s performance in the Mariners uniform, there’s no doubt that he has been one of the trustworthy shortstops in the majors. He might not crush many home runs. Nonetheless, he can get on base and in 2020, he won the Gold Glove award. In 2023, he finished the season with an OPS over .800 and he showed that he can do some damage. Nevertheless, by far this season, J.P. Crawford only hits .198/.296/.302 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI over 22 games. A few days ago, Crawford was placed on the injured list and it seems that he will miss some playing time. It will certainly be important to see if Crawford has a slow start this year. Last season, Crawford’s OPS was below .800 from March to June. Nevertheless, after the All-Star break, his OPS was .893. So, let’s keep watching once he comes back from the IL.
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