Crawford eager to put disappointing '24 campaign behind him

PEORIA, Ariz. -- J.P. Crawford experienced an “aha!” moment in the batting cage on Sunday morning, as if he’d unlocked something that was missing throughout his most trying season in Seattle.

“I felt something that I haven't felt in a long time,” the Mariners’ shortstop said.

And sure enough, a few hours later, Crawford crushed a 401-foot homer that left his bat at 107.9 mph in an 8-1 win over the Rockies that was far more emblematic of the 2023 version of the veteran.

Crawford has been working extensively with Mariners hitting coaches to regain leverage in his lower half, the portion of his body that he harnessed at Driveline Baseball ahead of that breakout season two years ago. The moment on Sunday came during flip drills.

“I've been searching for it for a year and some change now,” Crawford said. “But you just try to do little tweaks and some things to feel what's right, and something finally clicked for me. Knock on wood, I’ll just keep working on it, and we’ll be in a good spot.”

The homer later on has easily been his highlight of Spring Training -- well, at least on the field. Occasionally bringing his three-month-old daughter Korra to the Peoria Sports Complex has topped just about everything.

“There's no better feeling in the world,” Crawford said. “Everyone always says it's something that you can't beat. I finally understand that now. Nothing else beats being a dad.”

Indeed, on the heels of a season he’s eager to forget while embarking on a new personal frontier, Crawford has a newfound and refreshing perspective on baseball and on life. Entering his age-30 season, his seventh in Seattle, the uber-competitive and sometimes edgy shortstop is carrying himself more at ease than ever.

And for the Mariners’ sake, they hope it rekindles the production he displayed as one of their most consistent players.

Crawford hit .202 with a .625 OPS last year while playing in 105 games, all career lows since becoming an everyday player in 2020 (excluding the pandemic-shortened season). His strikeout rate climbed to 22.6% (from 19.6% in ‘23), his average exit velocity dropped to 87.5 mph (from 88.3 mph) and his overall impact dropped substantially, from 136 wRC+ to 89 (league average is 100) and from 4.9 wins above replacement to 1.6, per FanGraphs.

“There wasn't really a whole lot to process, because not a whole lot went right,” Crawford said. “So it was really easy to turn the page and forget about it and just look forward to this year. Finally being that healthy, being a dad, I have a lot more.”

To be sure, Crawford’s diminished production correlated with two lengthy stints on the injured list -- in April for a right oblique strain and in July for a right hand fracture after a hit-by-pitch. Both significantly impacted his swing, even after returning. But for a player who prides himself on durability, there were no excuses during the turmoil.

“It just hurt every time I swung the bat,” Crawford said. “So I just take it as that. Every day was a grind, just trying to get right, trying to get healthy to play, and it was tough.”

It was a stark contrast to 2023, when Crawford was arguably the Mariners’ most valuable player, even among the likes of Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh. He was at least their most consistent. That year, Crawford swatted a career-high 19 homers, and among all shortstops, he ranked second in OPS (.818) and wRC+ and tied for fourth in WAR.

The Mariners don’t necessarily expect him to replicate that breakout, but they do anticipate 2025 to be closer to that than to 2024.

“If J.P. Crawford was a free agent last year, I'm sure he would have quite a bit of interest league-wide to go out and be an everyday player on a contending club,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said.

Dipoto’s suggestion was tied to the fact that Crawford would’ve been on the cusp of free agency had he not signed the five-year, $51 million extension on Opening Day in 2022. He still has two years and $23 million remaining, a lofty enough figure towards the Mariners’ payroll that they need him to produce, and one that would’ve made him tough to trade if they decided to move on.

And while optimism always permeates Spring Training, there was at least a tangible sign of promise towards a bounceback season.