Brandon Crawford finding stroke in Arizona

Shortstop Brandon Crawford is one of the most polarizing players to play for the Giants in recent years.

A 4th round pick out of UCLA in 2008, Crawford hit just .204 in 66 games for the Giants in 2011, but excelled with the glove, committing only seven errors on 248 chances.

A portion of fans are willing to overlook his lack of hits at the plate if he keeps saving hits with his glove.

But an equally large group of fans believe it seriously hurts the lineup to have such a poor hitter in the lineup, no matter how good his defense is.

The Giants knew Crawford needed more work in the batter’s box, so they assigned him to play in the Arizona Fall League, a final test for players that are considered close to major league-ready by their organization.

Crawford, playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions with fellow Giants prospects Gary Brown and Joe Panik, has 12 hits in 34 at-bats so far.

The Giants have to be happy with his progress and hopeful that he can continue this success when players report for Spring Training in February. If Crawford can prove that he can hold his own at the plate, the Giants front office will have one less thing to worry about as they head into the 2012 season.