Carl Crawford Struggles Against His Body

Carl Crawford Struggles Against His Body

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:49 p.m. ET

Read Carl Crawford's injury history. You'll ding an eyeball just taking it in. Some of the injuries have come from getting older, of course. Some of them have come from his form, though, and so he's had to work hard to overcome his natural tendencies. 

Because it's always good to refresh your memory, let's put his major injuries on a timeline:

2007 -- Left groin strain -- 14 days

2008 -- Right finger surgery -- 47 days

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2011 -- Left hamstring strain -- 30 days

2012 -- Left wrist surgery -- Spring Training

2012 -- Left elbow strain -- 116 days

2012 -- Left Tommy John surgery -- 42 days

2013 -- Left hamstring strain -- 33 days

2014 -- Left ankle sprain -- 43 days

It took a while to get going but then the left side of his body just fell apart at the seams. 

The one that really stands out at first is the Tommy John surgery. Only 78 position players since 1984 have undergone the surgery -- while 20 percent of current major-league pitchers have done the same. 

Of course his arm was affected by the surgery. "Coming back, early on, it was just tough to throw to the target, and build up arm strength," Crawford said before a game against the Giants. 

It's true that his arm has been rated among the 30 worst-throwing outfielders over the past three years. But despite feeling like he's had to build back up to stop the running ("Guys start running on you cause they know you can't throw"), Crawford has worked hard to improve his throwing arm -- back into the worst 30 outfielders again

That's okay, the arm is close enough to scratch that it doesn't keep Crawford from being an asset in the field. Did the elbow surgery affect him at the plate? "I never felt anything hitting with it, no problems," Crawford says. 

That makes Crawford an outlier, maybe. Most of the position players who have had Tommy John surgery saw some regression at the plate up until the time they had the surgery, suggesting that something was bothering them in their swing. 

From the last fully healthy year to the year in which they first lost time to the elbow injury, Tommy John position players saw a drop of almost 30 points in their weighted on-base average. Despite being another year older, those players then gained five points of wOBA back in their first season back. The healthy tendon seemingly put them back on track at the plate, even if they didn't recapture all of their former glory. 

Because Crawford's 2011 season was so terrible, and yet mostly healthy, he actually saw a jump of 31 points going into 2012, the year he had the surgery. And being healthy after the surgery didn't give him a bounce-back. In fact, he lost 11 points of wOBA in 2013. 

There's an obvious confounding factor here. Crawford was not really "mostly healthy"€ in 2011. That was the year he first missed extended time due to his left hamstring. 

Turns out, Crawford's natural running style actually makes him prone to such injuries. He can "get too long with the stride," he admits, and "that causes hamstring problems." Aside from the two major hamstring injuries that have cost him months, Crawford has had to sit out many a game to nurse those hammies -- the left in particular. 

This year, though, there are signs he's found some normalcy with the legs. Crawford has attempted a steal every 3.6 times he's been at first base, a rate which actually puts him in the top 10 prolific basestealers

"We've been doing a good job keeping my legs strong, running form, working with trainers, just getting healthy," Crawford says. To keep his running form honest, the team has him running drills with his knees up and his toes up. They also keep an eye on him on the basepaths. "When I get lazy with the running form, they let me know," Crawford laughs. 

Some of Crawford's injury history has come from just getting older. "Getting older, all day, that's going to catch up you," Crawford admits. "I'm sore, this hurts, that hurts, comes with the territory." The numbers back up that obvious assertion -- every year on the calendar does add more injury risk.  

But you get wiser as you get older. And all that work training his muscles to work the right way is working for Crawford. "Just like hitting, you've been training to do it, training your muscle memory," says Crawford of his work on his running form. "I've trained it and done it enough that I don't have to think about it, but at times I get lazy with it and go back to old habits."

Age and our bodies' natural flaws will eventually come to the fore. In the meantime, all we can do is "fight it and stay focused on what's right," as Crawford puts it.

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