January 14, 2010

Players A to Z, Coco Crisp

Coco Crisp played outfield for the Kansas City Royals in 2009. He recently signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics. I had high hopes for a great career for Crisp when he put up two solid offensive seasons in 2004 and 2005, just as he was approaching the peak of his career. Combined with his stellar defense, it looked like Crisp would be a hot property, and the Red Sox agreed.

Crisp, however, suffered injuries which brought down his batting average and power, the two most important parts of his offense. His defense finally suffered as well. Coming off rotator cuff surgery, Crisp may not throw as well, but he should still be able to run down the ball. I’d love to see the A’s commitment to selectivity rub off on him and his OBP return to the .340 range. With good defense in that big park, he should be a very nice player for Oakland. It might help him to bat Coco second, as that’s been his best position in the lineup. Opening up a hole on the right side of the infield with the leadoff man on first probably does wonders for Coco’s hitting.

1 thought on “Players A to Z, Coco Crisp

  1. ptodd

    Coco was awsome defensively in CF in 2007 for the Red Sox. But he did not have a good arm even before his shoulder surgery, so he might be better off playing LF. The Indians felt he was better suited to play LF where he played well, although Sizemore had something to do with that.

    Unfortunately, Coco is getting a rep as being another JD Drew, but without the bat. He does not work the count enough to hit at the top of the order, but hitting 2nd is much more preferable to leading off. For whatever reason, hitting leadoff gets into his head and he gets indecisive at the plate. Coco is more of a free swinger.

    And he can box, so is a good guy to have in a bench clearing brawl.

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