Brandon Crawford arguably has been the Giants' MVP so far this season, and he was forced to exit Friday's game with a left hamstring cramp.
Crawford swung at a pitch in the top of the eighth inning of the Giants' game against the St. Louis Cardinals and grabbed the back of his left leg.
He stayed in the game, finished the at-bat and singled to right field. But as soon as he got to first base, he said something to coach Antoan Richardson, who waved to the Giants' dugout.
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Manager Gabe Kapler and senior director of athletic training Dave Groeschner immediately ran out to Crawford and soon after, he left the game with them.
"Left hamstring cramp, as of right now," Kapler told reporters after the game. "He's getting some fluids in him and we're going to check him out obviously as the night moves on and possibly tomorrow."
A cramp would be the best possible news for the Giants, who can't afford to lose Crawford for a significant amount of time, as they try to hold off the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the NL West race.
Shortstop isn't a deep position for the Giants. If it's more than a cramp and Crawford is forced to miss any time, Thairo Estrada likely would get a bulk of the time there. Mauricio Dubon could be recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
San Francisco Giants
Crawford, 34, is having a resurgent 2021 season, hitting .289/.363/.552 with 18 homers and 58 RBI. He was selected to his third career All-Star Game and played a few innings in the Midsummer Classic earlier this week.