There’s a reason the Phillies selected Justin Crawford 17th overall in the 2022 MLB draft. He can straight-up hit. Last year between A and High-A, Crawford hit .332 with 47 stolen bases.
Justin Crawford is turning heads at Double-A
In 2024, he’s hit above .300 at both High-A and Double-A. After a 3-hit 2-stolen base night, he’s now hitting .323 at the 2nd highest level of the minors as a 20-year-old. He’s up to 41 steals on the season.
During his postgame interview on Tuesday night, Reading’s manager Al Pedrique spoke highly of the young centerfielder. “He wants to play. he wants to get better,” said Pedrique. “He’s always asking questions. He pays attention to detail. He’s one of the kids that’s great to work with.”
While he’s been good all season, Crawford may be getting a boost from the Phillies’ latest promotion to the Reading Fightin Phils, Aiden Miller. The duo of former 1st round picks have been close friends and Crawford was excited to have him as a teammate again.
“Really glad to finally get my boy up here!,” Justin Crawford said as he lit up at the mention of his friend Miller. “That kid has a great work ethic like no other. And being able to finally get him up here to have him hit behind me, get some nice protection, it’s pretty cool and pretty fun.”
“He’s someone we just kind of connected since day 1,” continued Crawford. “We talk about everything when it comes to baseball.”
Both Crawford and Miller got their first taste of Double-A this season. While both have combated the adjustments needed to get to the upper levels of the minors, Crawford has specifically targeted his approach at the plate.
“I noticed a lot of times when I get out it’s me chasing pitches out of the zone, so kind of just tying up that strike zone a little bit,” said Crawford. He mentioned that he’s been working on his pitch selection to start to drive balls more. He’s trying to find more balls up in the zone while buttoning up his zone. With that, he wants to continue to utilize his speed to beat out ground balls.
“Obviously, I’m trying to drive the ball more and I feel like I’ve done a pretty decent job at doing that but also kind of knowing that [speed] is part of my game,” said Crawford. “I don’t want to necessarily want to get away from that all the way.”
Still over 100 days from his 21st birthday, Justin Crawford continues to impress down on the farm. As the 2024 season begins to close, the 2025 season is setting up to be a special one for the young outfielder.
