Crawford plays new position against Giants in Rickwood Field game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Brandon Crawford is in the starting lineup for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Giants on Thursday at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, but the veteran San Francisco star will not play shortstop in his first career game against his former team.
For the first time in his 14-year MLB career, Crawford will start at third base, while Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn handles shortstop duties as he has all season.
During a pregame interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt and Alex Pavlovic, Crawford was asked if he was more nervous about facing the Giants or playing third base for the first time.
“Third base, probably,” Crawford said. “I was most excited to play against the Giants. Third base makes me a little nervous simply because I’ve never done it before. I imagine running there, I’ll have similar feelings to when I pitched last year, just because I’ve never done it before in that type of scenario. I’ve gotten a lot of ground balls during batting practice and stuff like that and trying to prepare for it, in a way, I’m looking forward to it as well.”
Crawford bats seventh and plays in place of Nolan Arenado, who suffered a bruise on the elbow after being hit by a pitch in Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins.
After 1,541 career starts and 1,631 total games at shortstop, Crawford gets his first taste of the hot corner.
Crawford, 37, is hitting just .190/.292/.310 with two doubles, one home run and two RBIs in 15 games this season.
Nick Ahmed, who signed with the Giants in spring training just before Crawford signed a contract with the Cardinals, he will start at shortstop for San Francisco.
Giants at Rickwood Field: Wisely 2B, Ramos CF, Bailey C, Chapman 3B, Conforto LF, Soler DH, Flores 1B, Yastrzemski RF, Ahmed SS. Win LD
—Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) June 20, 2024
Keaton Winn (6.66 ERA) takes the mound for the Giants, while right-hander Andre Pallante (4.61) starts for the Cardinals.
The Giants and Cardinals play at Rickwood Field to honor the Negro Leagues.
Giants legend Willie Mays, who died Tuesday at the age of 93, began his professional career playing in Rickwood with the Birmingham Black Barons.