| Year | Avg. FB Distance | ISO |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 267.23 | .101 |
| 2013 | 271.14 | .114 |
| 2014 | 278.22 | .143 |
| 2015 | 315.53 | .228 |
Both fly ball distance and isolated power increase throughout the years. But you'll see the difference between the 2014 and 2015 stats is key, as this year he's hitting the ball much farther and with greater success.
Crawford's 315.53-feet average fly ball distance is the 10th-best figure in the Majors this season, and greater than those of sluggers BrooksBaseball.net.
| Count | Ball | Strike | Swing | Foul | Whiffs | LD | FB | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 128 | 32.03% | 19.53% | 52.34% | 24.22% | 5.47% | 7.03% | 7.03% | 3.13% |
| Career | 2667 | 32.96% | 27.52% | 46.57% | 21.52% | 7.76% | 4.20% | 5.51% | 0.75% |
In 2015, the Giants' shortstop is swinging more, whiffing less, and homering more often against fastballs. That's obviously what you'd like to see out of him.
It appears pitchers may have even begun to take notice. Take a look at the percentage of hard stuff he has seen in each of his plate appearances, sorted by month, courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net.
| Date | Hard Pitch % |
|---|---|
| April 2014 | 62.75 |
| May 2014 | 64.86 |
| June 2014 | 67.25 |
| July 2014 | 57.58 |
| August 2014 | 62.31 |
| September 2014 | 58.36 |
| April 2015 | 56.17 |
| May 2015 | 52.83 |
You can see that he has recently seen the lowest proportion of fastballs in this years trips to the plate, with the lowest being in May. This could mean pitchers are treating him with more care. However, it can also be because he normally hits eighth in the batting order, ahead of the pitcher. Still, he has traditionally hit eighth and only now is he not getting stuff to hit.
Success Against Southpaws
After struggling against lefties for most of his career, Crawford surprisingly hit .320/.395/.484 against them in 178 plate appearances in 2014. That was good for a .383 wOBA and 152 wRC+, albeit with a .404 BABIP.
While Crawford has only 31 plate appearances against lefties in 2015, he has had similar success this year, with a line of .346/.452/.654 off them. With Crawford's defensive ability, he'll be in the lineup everyday and will get the opportunity to continue to hit against left-handers. We'll see if this is a real skill improvement or luck.
Verdict
Crawford is currently the third-best shortstop on the ESPN Player Rater, so we know he can be fantasy-relevant if he keeps this up. Our numberFire projections expect 11 more home runs from Crawford this season, although with only a .693 OPS. Still, he can top that projection if he continues to hit the ball farther and fastballs with more authority.
If he's still available in your league, watch closely.