MLB All-Star J.P. Crawford announced resignation and departure from the Seattle Mariners ‘ another significant issue for the____see more…..
Even if J.P. Crawford isn’t an All-Star, he’s been the Mariners’ star
The initial rosters for the MLB All-Star Game were revealed Sunday, with just one member of the Mariners (45-40) – starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi – picked to represent Seattle on the American League team at Coors Field on July 13.
Kikuchi becomes first Mariners SP named an All-Star since 2015
While Kikuchi is certainly deserving of his first All-Star selection, there is a case to be made for one his teammates to join him on the AL squad: shortstop J.P. Crawford.
Regardless of whether or not the 26-year-old Crawford finds his way onto the AL team over the next week as a replacement for a player who will be unavailable to play in Denver, there’s no denying that Crawford has established himself as a breakout star for the surprising 2021 Mariners. For evidence of that, all you have to look at is Friday night.
With the Mariners and Rangers tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Crawford came up to the plate with a runner on second and two outs. And in the first game since 2019 where T-Mobile Park was open to full capacity, the crowd of 28,638 broke out into a chant of “J.P., J.P., J.P.”
Crawford responded by slapping a single through a hole in the left side of the infield, bringing Jake Fraley home for a key run in Seattle’s 5-4 win in extra innings.
“That was the coolest thing in my life on a baseball field, by far,” Crawford told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Shannon Drayer on the field during the Mariners radio broadcast at the end of the game. “I’ve never had a stadium chanting my name before, and when that happens, you gotta come through. You just gotta come through.