The impressive numbers behind Mariners star J.P. Crawford's 2025 resurgence

After posting a .625 OPS in 2024, many fans seemed to think J.P. Crawford was washed. The shortstop for the Seattle Mariners received MVP votes in 2023 and was worth 5.2 bWAR. But the next year, his power disappeared and his batting average fell to .206.

Now in 2025, Crawford is suddenly enjoying a bounce-back season. He has returned to the leadoff spot in the Mariners' lineup after losing it last year to Victor Robles and is reaching base at an elite rate, drawing walks and stringing base hits together. He is 2.5 bWAR ranks fourth among American League shortstops, and he has been a big reason the Mariners' offense has been able to stay afloat this season.

Let's take a look at three advanced metrics that are fueling Crawford's resurgence this season, using the help of Statcast.

Statcast shows why J.P. Crawford's resurgence is made to last

1. Launch Angle Sweet-Spot

If you've never heard of launch-angle sweet spot, you're probably not the only one. Launch angle refers to the angle at which the ball comes off the bat at the point of contact. Too much angle usually results a pop-up. Not enough angle usually results in a weak contact ground ball. The sweet spot is between eight and 32 degrees. Make contact in the sweet spot of the launch angle, and you give yourself the best chance at making hard contact.

Crawford had always been around league average at finding the sweet spot until last year. In 2024, Crawford's sweet-spot percentage fell to 30.2, putting him in the 12th percentile of the league.

In 2025, he has turned things completely around. He's finding the sweet spot 44.1 of the time, placing him in the 98th percentile. In the span of one year, Crawford has made himself one of the elite sweet-spot hitters in the league. If you are wondering what has allowed him to hit a career-best .295 this season, look no further.

2. Walk percentage

This probably goes without saying if you are a Mariners fan, but J.P. Crawford has elite plate discipline. He's always had a good walk rate, with a career mark of 11.7 percent. In context, last year, Crawford finished with an 11.5 walk rate and was in the 90th percentile across the MLB.

This year, however, he's brought his plate discipline to a whole new level. Crawford currently holds a 15.8 walk percentage, ranking in the 98th percentile. He's walking more than he ever has, even more than in 2023 when he drew a free pass 14.7 percent of the time. Crawford's 45 walks are sixth in baseball, and his .410 OBP is fourth.

3. He's crushing offspeed pitches

Crawford has enjoyed the most success this year against offspeed pitches. He's hitting .385 against the offspeed and slugging .500. His expected slugging is even higher at .619, indicating that he might be getting a bit unlucky. A big reason why he's finding so much success against offspeed pitches is that he is hitting them hard. Harder than fastballs, in fact. Crawford's average exit velocity on off-speed pitches is a career-high 93.4 miles per hour. He's only hitting fastballs at an average of 85 miles per hour.

Going back just a year, Crawford was horrendous against offspeed pitches . He hit .136 and slugged .156, with an average exit velocity of 86.5 miles per hour. It's clear that whatever adjustments Crawford made in the offseason, he did so with a clear goal in mind.

It's worth noting that while Crawford's batting average against fastballs has also improved from .219 in 2024 to .294 in 2025, that appears to be more luck than anything else. Crawford's expected batting average against fastballs was .257 last year and .259 this year.