Los Angeles Dodgers: Can Carl Crawford Bounce Back This Year?

If Carl Crawford can get healthy, the Los Angeles Dodgers would have an impressive outfield. That was the plan when the Dodgers got Crawford in what is called the “blockbuster” trade from the Boston Red Sox last year.

Crawford was a four time all-star when he played with the Tampa Bay Rays. From 2003-2011, he averaged 144 games a year. His career totals are .292 BA, .332 OBP, .441 SLG, and a .774 OPS.

However, Crawford had wrist surgery in 2012, returned to play 31 games and then needed Tommy John Surgery. The Red Sox traded him and what was left of his $142 million contract, around $107 million. The Dodgers have made a significant investment in a healthy Carl Crawford. But now he is having nerve irritation in his throwing arm—the surgically repaired one. Team doctors say the ligament is sound.

Don Mattingly, in his usual manner, is handling it all in stride. He wants Crawford healthy. If that takes 5 games, 10 or 20, a healthy Carl Crawford is the ultimate goal.

Indeed it is. Can you imagine the Dodgers with Crawford in left, Matt Kemp in center, and Andre Either in right? Three all-stars in the same outfield is rare. That’s what has Mattingly, the Dodger organization, and true-Blue fans so excited. Carl Crawford in the lineup (whenever that happens) makes the Dodgers better. A healthy Crawford makes the Dodgers great.

Dodger land needs to be patient with Crawford. If he can bounce back this year, the Dodgers will be unstoppable. If this is the year the Dodgers win another World Series, it could all hinge on Crawford’s comeback.