Was the Carl Crawford of Last year Just a Mirage?

It was reported about two weeks ago that Carl Crawford would miss Opening Day due to having wrist surgery in January. Crawford had cartilage removed from his wrist, and Valentine even said as recently as last week that Crawford would probably be out the first few weeks of the season. However, Crawford may have a different idea.

Last year was painful to watch Crawford play. He never looked comfortable, at the plate, in the field, or rounding the bases. When Crawford was on the Rays, I always would get flustered when he got on base. The man was insane at stealing, especially against the Red Sox. I’m sure I could look up the statistics and find out that Crawford’s stealing, but it will have to take some digging. (I did run a quick search and didn’t turn up anything in the first ten listings).

I’m sure there was a bit of an adjustment for Crawford when he came to Spring Training last year. For one, Red Sox fans compared to Rays fans are pretty night and day.  Red Sox fans are crazy passionate; Rays fans have cowbells. Second, Crawford never seem to have a set spot in the line-up last year. He never looked comfortable in whatever spot he was batting. Third, playing left field at Fenway Park is a challenge; it takes some adjustment. Crawford should’ve had a slight advantage since he’s played at Fenway for years, but it takes time to get used to playing the ball with the Green Monster right behind you. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

This year, it seems that the same menacing Crawford from the Tampa Bay Rays has shown up to Spring Training. Crawford has gone on record saying that he’s trying to be ready for Opening Day. To date, he hasn’t hit live hitting, though he did take soft-toss swings today. His stance, which Valentine criticized last year while working for ESPN, has also changed; it’s not the wide, awkward stance we’ve come to see from Crawford.  Instead, it’s a much more closed stance, almost a “typical” stance, if you would.

Crawford also seems much more comfortable with Valentine than he ever did with Fancona. Maybe I’m forgetting parts of last year (and really, who wouldn’t want to forget Crawford’s playing last year), but I don’t ever recall a time when Crawford and Francona were seen smiling, laughing, or high-fiving each other. Crawford and Valentine, however, have been seen doing this on more than one occasion.

As far as Crawford is concerned, it might just be that he wasn’t comfortable with the Red Sox last year, being the “new kid” on the team with Adrian Gonzalez. While Gonzalez seemed to flourish (and is expected to do even better this year), Crawford seemed to fold under the pressure. I’m predicting that Crawford will have a tremendous, bounce-back year, possibly even succeeding Ellsbury with a “Comeback Player of the Year” award.  Whatever the difference is with Crawford from this year and last, I’m excited to see him play this year.