Gabe Kapler didn't exactly have glowing things to say about veteran Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford when he spoke to the media on Dec. 10.
But nearly three months later, the new Giants manager and his shortstop have cleared the air.
In a conversation with The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly, Kapler addressed his comments from December.
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SIGN UP HERE “We understand that there’s some real misconceptions out there about Brandon, and some misunderstandings that I think, frankly, are bulls--t,” Kapler told Baggarly. “I think he’s motivated. I think he wants to be really, really good. He’s working really hard both in the cage and on defense. And he’s really accepted and embraced a lot of the feedback that we’ve given him.”
Back in December, Kapler had this to say about the three-time Gold Glove winner:
Crawford told Baggarly that he was confused by Kapler's comment, and they addressed it in a phone conversation.
“He actually loved that I brought it up,” Crawford told Baggarly. “He’s all about open communication. He loved that I saw it and asked him about it. That was one of the first things we talked about. And it was actually something really small. Like, it wasn’t a big deal. I think he was excited to talk to you (reporters) about it because they were picking everything apart and that stood out as something to work on. He didn’t mean it in a way, like, ‘That guy is not good defensively anymore.’ They were just excited to find something that we can work on together.”
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As Kapler begins his first season with the Giants, it's good that he was able to smooth things over with Crawford. The new skipper is going to need all the veterans to buy into what he's selling.
