Major League Baseball

A's Coco Crisp has mixed feelings about moving to left field

Published Mar. 4, 2015 9:11 p.m. ET

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Coco Crisp has been an everyday centerfielder for most of his big league career, but that will change in 2015.

The veteran was told by manager Bob Melvin and the Oakland A's on Tuesday that they plan to use him in left field this season in an effort to keep him healthy.

Sliding him over to left field creates a platoon in center, with the speedy and defensively above-average duo of Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry rotating in on a regular basis.

This is all an effort to keep Crisp off the disabled list. His 2014 campaign was negatively affected by a neck injury sustained in the right-center field gap at O.co Coliseum, and despite his effort (and some medical treatment) he wasn't really able to get back to 100 percent for the rest of the year.

Melvin told MLB.com's Jane Lee about the move:

He had some questions, but he's going to do the best he can with it. "He's handling it like a pro, but there's also a pride factor involved for a guy that's one of the premier center fielders to have to switch positions."

That 'pride' Melvin mentions is definitely a factor here, as Crisp has been a centerfielder for essentially his entire 13-year career. He has appeared in left field on 232 occasions, but the bulk of his playing time has been logged in center.

The situation has Crisp on the fence, so to speak, about juggling the team's best intentions and his own perspective:

"It's kind of hard to ride that fine line of the pride and the understanding of what they're trying to do." "For the most part," he said, "my personality is the go-with-the-flow type of personality. Being here as a Major Leaguer, you get here because you have that swag about yourself, you believe in yourself and your ability, and with that, I still believe and have that feeling that I'm more than a capable center fielder. I still feel like I'm one of the best in the game."

Crisp's defensive metrics have taken a hit lately due to the handful of injuries he's battled. In 2014, his dWAR was -1.5. His overall WAR was only 1.1, a significant dropoff from the 4.3 he posted in 2013 -- again, most likely due to the injuries he had to deal with for so long.

Gentry, meanwhile, has favorable career splits against left-handed pitching (.282/.364/.376), in addition to a penchant for remarkable plays on defense (though he only played in 94 games in '14, his above-average defensive skill set led to a WAR of 2.0).

As for Fuld, his value to the team is defense. He's always had issues hitting at the big-league level, considering his career slash line is only .236/.316/.334 in 478 games. This platoon situation may or may not work, especially if Gentry has another injury-shortened season. If, though, he's able to stay out on the field on a regular basis, he and Josh Reddick would pose one of the more formidable outfield tandems in the game.

Crisp took to Twitter to address the issue further, as it's apparent it's something very close to his heart:

As you might have all heard, #cocosfropatrol 'n left field this year.
— Covelli Crisp (@Coco_Crisp) March 4, 2015

And Melvin, too, noted that there will be a learning curve with the position switch. When Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes was in Oakland, the A's used him primarly in left field -- a change from his usual spot in center. Melvin detailed the difficulty to MLB.com:

"It's probably the toughest outfield position as far as reading spin on the ball," said Melvin. "You get a lot of top spin, a lot of slice with left-handed hitters. It's going to take some time. As you saw with Ces, it took some time, and then one day he got it. And Coco is already farther along than Ces was."

Crisp will have the rest of spring training to acclimate himself to left field. At this point, it's anyone's guess whether the intended effect of keeping him healthy will be realized. Whatever it takes to keep him on the field, though, is in the team's best interest, as the A's are historically at their best with him atop the lineup.

(H/T MLB.com)