PEORIA, Ariz. — Mariners shortstop JP Crawford is coming off of a breakthrough season of stellar play on defense and at the plate.
Last season, Crawford led the American League (AL) in walks with 94, becoming the first shortstop to do so since Peewee Reese led the AL in 1947.
"Yeah, I think it's good, you know, setting the tone for the offense, making the pitcher work throwing a bunch of pitches," Crawford said. "Even if I get out, you're still having a seven, eight-pitch at bat and that tires the pitcher out even more. He might be out an inning earlier, because of that AB, so I think it's clutch for me."
According to manager Scott Servais, Crawford was clutch all season for the Mariners last year. Servais said it's been fun watching Crawford's growth.
The shortstop was one of the first pieces Seattle acquired after they launched their rebuild in 2019.
"It's been fun to kind of watch the evolution of JP Crawford," Servais said. "He's as consistent as any player that we have. And not just in the game, but his work leading into the game is really good and that's why he's gotten better."
Servais said Crawford has learned a lot about himself and is becoming more comfortable as a leader on the team - speaking up more than in the past.
"I'm not going to be the type of guy who you know who goes 'rah-rah' or whatever," Crawford said. "I'm going to lead by my actions. I'm going to be out there hustling, treating every play like it's game-like."
Crawford believes he can impact his teammates by leading by example.
"They see that I'm working really hard, so they're going start working hard too," Crawford said. "I'm just holding myself to a higher standard."
Over the past five seasons, Crawford has played with over a half dozen second basemen. Crawford said he's already gelling with former All-Star Jorge Polanco at spring training.
The combination of Crawford and Polanco should make the Mariners' defense solid up the middle.
"I think we're going to bail our pitchers out a lot with our defense and defense is going win ballgames sometimes, so it's going to be really, really nice," Crawford said.