Look who leads Giants in RBIs: Brandon Crawford

Marco Scutaro disappeared after the 2013 season, and Pablo Sandoval bolted after last season. Now the biggest presence in the Giants’ infield is Brandon Crawford.

“He’s the guy,” infield coach Ron Wotus said.

Across the board.

Nearing the quarter mark of the season for the Giants, who host the first-place Dodgers on Tuesday night, Crawford has evolved into one of the majors’ elite overall shortstops, combining expert defense (taking it to a new level this year), productive offense (look who’s leading the team in RBIs) and an asset that’s new to his repertoire.

“Being a leader,” Wotus said. “What goes overlooked is his positioning and being in the right spot, really taking charge in the infield and communicating. His game continues to get better not only defensively but offensively, and hopefully it’ll continue.”

Manager Bruce Bochy said that Crawford’s “defensive and offensive numbers speak for themselves, and I think better days are still ahead of him. That’s how good I think he can be.”

Crawford, 28, is playing like an All-Star, and now it’s a matter of sustaining it. He’s started hot before. He had five homers in April 2013 and four the rest of the year, though he was slowed by a finger injury.

“I’m not worried about what I did the night before or the week before,” Crawford said. “Just trying to go in and have good at-bats, make plays. That’s really what it comes down to, trying to do it every day.”

Crawford, who hasn’t finished as high as .250 in any of his first four seasons, is at .285 with a .380 on-base percentage, mostly from the No. 8 spot in the lineup, where batters sometimes get pitched around with the pitcher on deck.

Last year Crawford hit a career-high 10 homers, and he already has six this season, tying Buster Posey for the team lead. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Posey, who playfully welcomes the competition, saying, “We’ve got a lot of time.”

“It’s hard to consider yourself a power hitter in San Francisco,” Crawford said. “But I think I have some pop.”

Crawford’s 25 RBIs not only lead the Giants but also all big-league shortstops. Three more than runner-up Starlin Castro of the Cubs, six more than Jhonny Peralta of the Cardinals and 14 more than Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies.

On defense, the most noticeable difference is Crawford making the routine plays and not forcing the issue on seemingly impossible ones. As Wotus said, “He’s not trying to make something out of nothing.” Crawford has four errors (the last was a fluke; his throw from shallow left field Sunday hit a runner’s helmet) and is on pace for 17. Last year he made 21, second most among shortstops.

Crawford’s double-play partner is Joe Panik, whose career is 110 regular-season games old. Third baseman Casey McGehee is a first-year Giant trying to fit in. Between them, Crawford is a cool and calming presence, a pitcher’s best friend and always capable of making an absurdly ridiculous play with above average arm strength, range, instincts and smarts.

He’s a fixture in the lineup, especially because the lefty swinger has no problem hitting lefties (.346), and has appeared in all 38 games, starting all but three.

“He’s a hard guy to take out of the lineup because of what he gives you defensively,” Bochy said. “He’s really been consistent on both sides, and that’s why it’s important I give him a day or two occasionally so I don’t wear him down. He’s a guy you can take for granted playing every day. In the past, it caught up with him.”

That’s why it’s premature to start the All-Star drum roll. The voting hasn’t even begun, but let it be known the Giants were asked by MLB to pick two players for All-Star promotional purposes and chose Posey and Crawford, who said an All-Star selection “would be an honor.”

“It’s too early for that,” said Bochy, who’ll have a hand in picking All-Stars as the National League manager but didn’t want to discuss Crawford’s possible candidacy, thinking it could be unnecessary pressure.

Eventually, Bochy will have to address the topic so long as Crawford remains “the guy.”