OAKLAND -- It appears the A's are going to give Coco Crisp everything he wants. He got a two-year, 14M contract in the offseason. He appears to be back in center field longterm -- as Yoenis Cespedes is playing left field in Sacramento. He even got to return from the disabled list after a lengthy bout with the flu and an inner-ear infection, without playing in any rehab games. And he wonders why he is struggling.Before Crisp went on the DL, he was batting .194. Suffice it to say, he really hadn't found his timing at the plate before missing those 23 games. If he didn't have his timing then, there is clearly no chance he was going to find his hitting stroke when not facing any live pitching.
RATTO: Crisp moves back to his happy place
In his seven games since returning, Crisp has gone 2 for 29 (.068). He has left 17 runners on base. Surprisingly, even with his struggles at the plate he was batting at the top of the lineup. Melvin just moved him down to the eighth spot in the lineup for Tuesday's game in Minnesota.
So why didn't he go on a rehab assignment? As far as anyone could gather in talking to both Crisp and manager Bob Melvin, he simply didn't want to. Melvin even made it seem like the decision was up to Crisp. I guess you can't force a 32-year-old veteran to go play minor league ball against his will. Crisp's rationale at the time?"It couldn't be any worse than before," Crisp said of his swing last week after being activated.Crisp will likely find his timing eventually. It's just going take ... time. Time he could have spent in the minor leagues where his stats don't count. Now he has to look at his poor numbers and wear it. He even told reporters after Monday's game that he feels like booing himself right now. It is hard to feel sorry for Crisp even after reading those comments though.
He is getting exactly what he asked for after all.
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