Brandon Crawford || SS || AA

[Kings49sGiants]

Brandon Crawford

• Age: 23

• DOB: January 21, 1987

• POB: Mountain View, CA

• Height: 6'2''

• Weight: 200

• Bats: Left

• Throws: Right

• Acquired: Selected by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round (117th overall) of the 2008 First-Year [Player Draft.

• MLB Comparison: Stephen Drew

[Kings49sGiants]

Scouting Report

Pre-draft scouting report by mlb.com (2008):

Hitting Ability: In the past, Crawfod has shown an ability to drive the ball, but he has struggled thus far in 2008. He's a pull hitter and has been pulling off of balls on the outer half of the plate.

Power: He's got plus raw power to the pull side.

Running Speed: A solid average to plus runner, a slightly thicker lower half has brought him down a tick this year.

Base running: He's a confident base-runner who can steal a base.

Arm Strength: He's got a solid average arm and can make the throw from the hole with ease.

Fielding: His hands have always been good, though he's not making the spectacular plays as regularly as he has in the past.

Range: He seems to have lost a step and isn't getting to as many balls as he once did.

Physical Description: Crawford is a physically mature athlete, with a strong and muscular upper half, along with a thick waist and lower half.

Medical Update: Healthy.

Strengths: When he's going well, he's an all-round shortstop who can hit, hit for power, steal a base and make the plays.

Weaknesses: His confidence is shot this year and it's reflecting in almost all facets of his game.

Summary: After his first two seasons at UCLA, Crawford seemed poised to be one of the top collegiate middle infielders in the class. But a rough Cape season appears to have carried over and he's lost some confidence in his game, both at the plate and in the field. Some added thickness to his lower half has taken away a little of his quickness, though he's still a solid shortstop. If he can right himself, he's the kind of player who usually sees himself go off the board within the first couple of rounds.

Made Baseball America's top 30 prospects, coming in at number 9, in 2010:

Considered a potential first-rounder for the 2008 draft, Crawford slid to the fourth round after a disappointing Cape Cod League and lukewarm junior season. He played just five games in his pro debut, then jumped to high Class A to begin 2009, destroying Cal League pitching and earning a promotion to Double-A after barely a month. An all-around talent, Crawford has a good blend of skills and field awareness. His positioning and fist-step quickness allow him to make tough plays look easy. He's solid around the bag and has an accurate arm. even when he struggle against Double-A pitching, it didn't affect his defense. He has the potential to hit 15-20 homers a year and shows power to the opposite field. His slightly above-average speed plays even better on the bases. Double-A pitching fed Crawford a lot of breaking balls and he had trouble adjusting. Coaches didn't want to overwhelm him in his first full season, bet he'll need to adjust the position of his feet and head to handle stuff on the inner half. Crawford might not have the bat control to be a No. 2 hitter in the big leagues, but he's gifted enough to make contributions in the lower third of the lineup. The Giants would be thrilled if he develops along the lines of J.J. Hardy.

[Kings49sGiants]

Stats

Basic:

Year	Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	GIA	AZL	.429	4	14	3	6	1	1	0	3	9	0	3	0	1	.429	.643	1.071
2008	SK	NOR	.000	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
2008	Minors	 	.375	5	16	3	6	1	1	0	3	9	0	3	0	1	.375	.563	.938
2009	SJ	CAL	.371	25	105	21	39	2	2	6	17	63	10	32	2	4	.445	.600	1.045
2009	CON	EAS	.258	108	392	38	101	26	2	4	31	143	20	100	11	7	.294	.365	.659
2009	Minors	 	.282	133	497	59	140	28	4	10	48	206	30	132	13	11	.328	.414	.742
2010	RIC	EAS	.241	79	291	43	70	12	3	7	22	109	39	77	4	1	.337	.375	.712
2010	Minors	 	.241	79	291	43	70	12	3	7	22	109	39	77	4	1	.337	.375	.712

Advanced:

Year	Age	Team	Level	P/PA	Sw%	Mis%	TkS%	GB%	FB%	LD%	IF%	BABIP	HR/BIA	kL% 	kS%  	uBB%	iBB% 	
2009	  	SJG  	A+ 					50.7 	27.4 	16.4 	4.1	0.493	17.1 	5.0  	21.8  	8.4  	0.0   
2009	  	NRW  	AA 					47.8 	25.6 	18.6 	4.3	0.327	2.7 	2.8  	20.8  	4.7  	0.0   
2010	  	RIC  	AA 					46.6 	30.6 	14.6 	5.9	0.292	6.3 	7.4  	15.0  	11.2  	0.0

Guide:

• GB% = The percentage of batted balls that are hit on the ground. The MLB average is 43.2%.

• FB% = The percentage of batted balls that are hit for outfield flies. The MLB average is 28.4%.

• LD% = The percentage of batted balls that are hit for line drives. The MLB average is 18.9%.

• IF% = The percentage of batted balls that are popped up. The MLB average is 7.3%.

• BABIP = The percentage of batted balls in play (batted balls - homeruns) that go for a hit. MLB average is .297.

• HR/BIA = The percentage of balls in the air (line drives + flyballs + pop ups) that go for a homerun. MLB average is 6.5%.

• kL% = The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a called strikeout. MLB average is 4.5%.

• kS% = The percentage of plate appearnces resulting in a swinging strikeout. MLB average is 13.1%

• uBB% = The percentage of plate appearances resulting in an unintentional walk. MLB average is 8.0%.

• iBB% = The percentage of plate appearnaces resulting in an intentional walk. MLB average is 0.7%.

[Kings49sGiants]

Update

Brandon Crawford broke his hand on July 7th:

SS prospect Brandon Crawford breaks hand, out 6-8 weeks

Now shortstop prospect Brandon Crawford will be sidelined for six to eight weeks after breaking his right hand.

According to Giants VP Bobby Evans, Crawford broke the fifth metacarpal on his throwing hand. He was hit by a line drive while fielding a ground ball off a fungo, Evans relayed via text.

Crawford, 23, is considered major league ready with the glove but his bat hasn’t caught up yet. With a .241 average, Crawford is one of several Flying Squirrels who haven’t caught much air this season.

The Giants weren’t counting on Crawford in the short term, but it was telling when they kept him to the very end of the exhibition schedule. Because of his glove and the Giants’ general lack of depth at shortstop, I’d assumed Crawford would be a candidate to receive his first big league call-up in September. Unfortunately for him and the Giants, he’ll miss some prime development time now.

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