This is Part 11 of a series in which every member of the 2015 Dodgers has his season juxtaposed with an episode of the greatest sitcom of all-time. Don’t take it too seriously.
Carl Crawford, OF.
Key stats: 69 games, .265/.304/.403 slash line, 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Seinfeld episode: “The Parking Space” (season 3, episode 22).
Key quote: “You see what he did here, you see how he tried to sneak into my space?”
Kirk Gibson, he of the famously bad knees and even more famous World Series home run, started 147 games in left field for the 1988 World Series champion Dodgers.
Carl Crawford started more games than any other Dodger left fielder in 2015: 42.
Left field was the parking space no one wanted this year. It was supposed to be Crawford’s, but he suffered a strained oblique muscle in late April and missed the next 75 games. It was Andre Ethier‘s space (38 games) when Yasiel Puig was in the lineup, but Puig missed 72 games due to a pair of hamstring strains. So sometimes it was Alex Guerrero‘s position (27 games) and sometimes it was Scott Van Slyke‘s (31). Justin Ruggiano (13), Kiké Hernandez (5), Chris Heisey (3) and Scott Schebler (3) started a combined 24 games in left field. Seriously: who wants it?
Interestingly enough, left field isn’t nearly the biggest question mark facing the Dodgers this off-season. Neither is Crawford.
He started slowly, batting .245 in April prior to the injury. Afterward, even though Crawford was champing at the bit to come back sooner, it took him a couple weeks to find his timing at the plate. Once he did, he was fine. From Aug. 1 on, Crawford slashed .289/.338/.430, which is basically who he’s been since he broke into the majors 14 years ago (.291/.332/.437).
With Puig shelved in September, Crawford and Ruggiano formed a stable lefty/righty platoon in left. The Dodgers got a combined .779 OPS from their left fielders in September and October, a solid-but-not-spectacular standard that could easily continue if the Dodgers can’t offload Crawford and his $43.5 million in salary over the next two seasons.
Crawford was actually better against left-handed pitchers this season (.296/.345/.333) for some reason. He’s been far better against righties in his career (.303/.341/.461).
When the playoffs rolled around, he couldn’t hit anybody. Crawford seemed unable to adapt to the fastballs of Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard — so much so that he was relegated to the bench in Games 4 and 5. Crawford turned 34 in August. When he went 1-for-12 in October, it was the oldest he’s looked on a baseball field since arriving in August 2012.
So who wants left field in 2016? Crawford would do well to nose in aggressively (but only if he has room to do so safely).