San Francisco Giants: Is Brandon Crawford the Long-Term Solution at Shortstop?

Despite Brandon Crawford's well-documented struggles at the plate, it's not that outrageous of a claim to say that he very well could be San Francisco's shortstop of the future.

After staring at my computer screen for a while trying to dissect the Giants' starting lineup in 2012, names like Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt stuck out to me. All three players are 25 years old or younger, and all have the potential to be the heart of the Giants lineup for the foreseeable future. 

It's always fascinating to think about the future, particularly in sports, which is why I get excited when thinking about the starting rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner. It's a trio of starting pitchers who have the chance to be the best thing in baseball since the K-Krew back in Oakland during the early 2000s.

But another name that stuck out to me was Crawford.

He isn't the caliber of player that Posey or Sandoval is, and he shouldn't be considered as one either. However, Crawford has the potential to be a starting positional player in San Francisco for just as long as any of the other young sluggers.

First of all, his defensive capabilities are usually the first thing to come to mind. He is extremely nifty with the glove and sucks up every ball that's hit near him like a human Dirt Devil.

But his defense isn't going to make him stick in the major leagues for long. The Giants have seen shortstops like Brian Bocock and Ivan Ochoa come up through the minor leagues, but they only stuck around for a cup of coffee, as they never figured things out with the bat.

So why is Crawford, who finished with a triple-slash of .204/.288/.296 (ouch) in 2011, slated to be the starting shortstop in 2012?

Could the Giants' front office see something in him that we don't?

While I don't think that a .300 batting average is in his deck of cards anytime soon, I do see some encouraging things that have led me to believe that Crawford can become a competent hitter at the plate.

One thing that jumps out at me is his pitch selection and plate discipline. Crawford will seldom swing at pitches outside of the strike zone.

He has a knack for working the count and waiting for his pitch, but it's his inability to consistently hit the ball hard that makes it difficult for me to believe that he'll ever become a successful hitter at the major-league level.

However, his .228 BABIP in 2011 was well below the league average last season, which could mean one of two things: Crawford was either very unlucky and hit the ball right at defenders every time, or he just very rarely made solid contact with the ball.

Giants fans would like to believe the former, but his 14 percent line-drive percentage leads us to believe otherwise.

But he's still only 25 years old and has proven that he can hit at other levels of baseball in the past. He consistently hit .300 in college with the UCLA Bruins, as well as hit .371 in Single-A.

Another encouraging statistic is Crawford's batting average, since he changed his approach at the plate to a more "quiet" batting stance.

Crawford has now elected to rest the bat on his shoulder, which prevents him from dropping his hands before his swing. This could be the reason why he had an IFFB percentage (pop flies) of 10.5, which certainly left a lot of room for improvement.

But since Crawford went with a more relaxed stance at the plate, he is 14-for-41 (10-for-32 at the end of 2011 and 4-for-9 in spring training thus far), which is a promising .341 batting average.

Does this mean that Crawford has figured everything out at the plate?

Of course not. I'm still expecting him to hit around .240 in 2012, which is all the Giants will need from their No. 8 hitter. However, we have all seen stranger things happen in baseball, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Crawford bat around .260 with a few clutch hits here and there.

And even if Crawford fails to produce at the plate in 2012, it won't force the Giants to break the bank in free agency and try to find a replacement at shortstop.

The fact of the matter is that well-rounded shortstops are very hard to come by in today's age. There are currently only two legitimate superstars at the position (Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Reyes), and only a handful more who can play defense and hit.

Shortstop, along with catcher, is also a position that many teams are willing to sacrifice a little offensive production for defense. This is because they are arguably the most important defensive positions on the field, as well as there aren't many true hitters coming from those positions.

Plus, there is no one in the Giants' farm system who will be nipping at Crawford's heels for the starting shortstop spot. Joe Panik will likely make the move to second base, and Ehire Adrianza is actually a worse hitter than Crawford is.

Plus, even though the Giants signed Ryan Theriot to play shortstop against left-handed pitchers, Bruce Bochy will be reluctant to put him in the lineup due to his questionable defense at shortstop.

The Giants see something in Crawford.

It's why Brian Sabean didn't go out and waste a ton of money on Alex Gonzalez or Jimmy Rollins.

Whether it's because of his offensive abilities or that they truly believe he can sort things out at the plate, they have all but awarded him the starting job at shortstop, despite his disappointing offensive statistics last year.

All the Giants expect from Crawford is to play consistent defense and save some runs with his glove here and there, and that's exactly what he is capable of doing.

If he can find a way to do that, as well as continue to show improvements with the bat, the Giants might not feel the need to upgrade the shortstop position in the future.

And if he's able to contribute anything more than that, it'll be a cherry on top.