Still from video posted to X by @Mitch_Rupert
Justin Crawford, ranked below only RHP Andrew Painter and SS Aidan Miller in the Phillies' farm system, is off to a hot start for the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Through nine games, Crawford is hitting .325/.357/.425 (.782 OPS) with a pair of triples, six RBI, and four stolen bases. He has struck out five times and walked twice in 42 plate appearances.
The Phillies are off to a hot start of their own, winning their first three series of the season. But there is plenty of room for the team to improve, especially in the outfield.
For example:
They forgot to catch the ball pic.twitter.com/a3LAI28pQq
Now, miscommunications happen. One play doesn't tell us much, even if it may have cost the Phils a win in a tight game against the Braves.
If we dig a little deeper, however, the play reveals some cracks in the Phillies' armor. Consider:
- Johan Rojas, as the centerfielder, needs to take charge on that ball. But Edmundo Sosa reportedly called out "you you you" before the ball landed embarrassingly in front of the two Phillies, something a more experienced outfielder knows not to do. (Sosa should have remained quiet and backed off.)
- Sosa was making his very first start in the outfield in seven years of major league experience. The Phillies were looking to keep his hot bat in the lineup and get some offensive production out of an outfielder not named Nick Castellanos.
- Brandon Marsh is hitting .167, Max Kepler is hitting .172, and offensive expectations for Rojas are low despite his four hits in nine at-bats.
That's a messy situation in left and center. And when the third-ranked prospect in the organization is an outfielder shining in AAA... well, the murmurs will begin.
Phillies’ 21-year-old OF prospect (No. 61 overall via MLB Pipeline) Justin Crawford went 3-5 last night for the @IronPigs and is slashing .325/.357/.425 in 9 games this season. 👀
Is it almost time? 🤔
pic.twitter.com/bNMfqzaAZV https://t.co/WT7lf3FmHH
There's a slew of fans in the replies to that tweet who are ready to put Crawford on the major league squad immediately. That would probably be unwise. Rushing Crawford to the majors too soon could hurt his long-term development, Marsh/Kepler/Rojas deserve a bigger sample size before the club makes a drastic move, and the Sosa experiment probably should last more than one game.
Sosa did make this play in his first OF start, after all:
Known left fielder Edmundo Sosa commits highway robbery
pic.twitter.com/xMXR4L2LEN
So it says here we should pump the brakes on Crawford a little bit.
But if the trends noted above continue well into the season, the murmurs will get louder and harder to ignore.
Last night:
Johan Rojas: 0/3
Justin Crawford: 3/5 pic.twitter.com/Vb93sTRlrA
Tick-tock.
