The Seattle Mariners 2025 postseason run was one for the ages.

This past year's club, which is the only team since the organization was established in 1977 to be one game away from the World Series, featured a healthy amount of variation in players.

Some players were rookies, others were key trade acquisitions, several were foundational franchise faces and others were established veterans.

Of the veteran faces on the Mariners, none had the experience in the Pacific Northwest of shortstop J.P. Crawford.

The former Gold Glove winner entered 2025 as the longest-tenured player on the team.

Crawford was coming off an injury-plagued, down 2024 and responded this past season with one of the better seasons of his career, proving why he's considered the unofficial "captain" of the team.

J.P. Crawford by the numbers

Games played: 157

Hitting stats: .265 BA, 12 HRs, 58 RBIs, 69 Runs, 24 Doubles, 74 BB, 122 SOs, .352 OBP, .370 SLG, .722 OPS

Fielding stats: 573 TC, 13 Errors, .976 Fielding

What I liked

Seattle was one of the best power-hitting teams in the major leagues this year but there was a clear decrease in power in the bottom-third of the lineup.

Crawford was one of the most deliberate and smartest hitters on the team. His eye at the plate made him a consistent on-base threat, which presented several opportunities for the power hitters in the top-third of the order.

Crawford's 18.7% strikeout rate ranked in the 66th percentile of the major leagues, according to Baseball Savant. He had a walk rate of 11.3%, a chase rate of 21.9% and a whiff rate of 20.4%, which ranked in the 82nd, 88th and 76th percentile of baseball, respectively.

Crawford was also able to use the field effectively.

Manager Dan Wilson, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez preached utilizing the whole field. Fourteen of Crawford's 24 doubles were to the opposite field.

Crawford's defense wasn't up to the Gold Glove-caliber (-13 outs above average), but he made several athletic plays at shortstop throughout the year that other players at his position wouldn't be able to.

Best moments

Crawford's best stretch of the season came from May 30-July 18. Over that stretch, Crawford had 17 games of multiple hits, including five games of three hits.

Crawford's first three-hit game during that stretch was a 3-for-4 showing against the Minnesota Twins on May 31. In that game, Crawford scored a run, drew a walk and hit a double and a home run with two RBIs. Seattle won the contest 5-4.

Future prospects

Crawford has been a part of some of the most iconic moments in recent team history. He was on the field for the last pitch of Felix Hernandez's career, he raced out of the dugout when Cal Raleigh hit a walk-off home run that broke the franchise's then-21 year playoff drought in 2022 and he saw the M's clinch their first division title since 2001.

And 2026 might be the last season he's in a Mariners uniform.

Crawford is set to earn a salary of $12 million in 2026. After that, he'll be an unrestricted free agent.

Seattle's top overall prospect, Colt Emerson, projects as a shortstop and is predicted to make his major league debut in 2026. There's a very good chance Emerson makes his MLB debut, either as a second baseman or third baseman, and slides over to shortstop in 2027.

Crawford was one of the first pieces the Mariners acquired when it started their rebuild. They acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies on Dec. 3, 2018. But if Emerson shows he's ready, Crawford could end his career elsewhere.

Final grade: B-

Crawford's every day defense and slow stretches (.223/.279/.311 slash line in July; .239/.307/.348 slash line in August) prevents him from getting an "A" grade.

But Crawford's overall consistency, stewardship at shortstop and bounceback season keeps him in the "B" range.

The faces of the franchise are be Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, but Crawford has been the man up the middle for a better part of a decade now and proved he can still be a valuable member of a championship-caliber team.

And that's someone Seattle will need if it hopes to win its first-ever pennant in 2026.

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