Phillies prospect Justin Crawford knocking on door of MLB after hot start with Lehigh Valley
Justin Crawford has only been in the Lehigh Valley for five weeks.
Hard to tell given how well the Phillies' No. 2 hitting prospect has acclimated himself to Triple-A, a move he initially didn't see coming. Crawford only played 40 games in Double-A Reading, yet the Phillies thought they had seen enough to bump the 21-year-old outfielder up a level.
Crawford has played just 30 games for the IronPigs, yet hits beyond his years.
"I'm obviously still kinda making adjustments. It's not really easy," Crawford said. "But I've kinda been just trusting my routine, my approach. Doing everything that I've done to get here has helped me just stay even keel. I'm taking it one at-bat at a time."
Through those first 31 games, Crawford has hit .318 with 41 hits on the young season — an average of 1.3 hits per game. He's stolen 11 bases and driven in 13 runs while scoring 20, striking out 29 times and walking 15 times. His OPS is at .797.
Crawford has been at the top of the lineup, a presence the IronPigs have needed.
"He's a young kid playing at the highest level," IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras said. "He has a knack for just finding the barrel. To some, it might look unorthodox the way he kinda goes about it, but he has this knack of spoiling pitches and extending these ABs that allow him to see more pitches. When good hitters can do that, he puts himself in a good position."
Crawford is 13th in the International League in average, tied for 10th in stolen bases and fourth in hits. There are still parts of Crawford's game he's learning, yet he's playing like a seasoned vet in Triple-A rather than a 21-year-old rookie.
"Obviously, it's definitely better," Crawford said of Triple-A pitching. "I think just facing older guys that have been in the big leagues, have big league time. They're finer. They have more of a game plan, trying to pitch to me and get me out.
"The pitchers are just more fine. They paint the corners a little bit more. You don't get as many middle heaters as you would normally get at the lower levels. They put the ball where they wanna put it."
There is no rush to get Crawford to the big leagues, even though he's accelerating that clock with every passing hit. Crawford could be the Phillies' center fielder at some point this season, but that talk has died down with the improved play of Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas, who currently occupy the position for the big league club.
Crawford is knocking on that door to the major leagues. He's not putting any pressure on himself to get there either.
"I really truly don't think about it," Crawford said. "I'm kinda self-focused on just trying to get a hit in my next at bat, to be honest, and playing defense. I don't let my mind go there. Whenever it does, things just don't go the way I want. I kinda always figured to stay as present as possible and just worry about the next pitch. That's kind of helped me stay in the moment."
That time will come for Crawford soon.
