Phillies: J.P. Crawford beginning to find himself in Lehigh Valley
Finally finding his stroke, the Phillies top prospect is getting hot for the IronPigs
Through the potential 100 loss season, Phillies fans have remained optimistic knowing there are potentially All-Star players working their way through the minor leagues.
Top prospect J.P. Crawford is the great unknown for Phillies fans, who were led to believe Crawford was the next Jimmy Rollins and a superstar. Fast forward to 2017 where the opinion of Crawford is slightly jaded in Philadelphia and fans are beginning to trend towards Freddy Galvis being the franchise shortstop and leader.
Anyone who’s tracked Crawford’s career knows how hot and cold he can get at the plate each time he progresses through the organization. When promoted from Reading to Lehigh Valley last May he struggled immensely, hitting .243 in his first full month. That’s been Crawford’s m.o. since being drafted 16th overall in 2013.
Crawford’s mind-numbing trend of starting seasons cold continued into 2017 where he’s hit .216 for the IronPigs. The only thing as constant as Crawford failing to hit is his ability to walk nearly as many times as he strikes out.
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In 477 minor league games, Crawford has struck out 294 times and walked 276 times. Douse in 491 professional hits, and there could be something.
Now 71 games into the IronPigs season Crawford is finally starting to find his stride, hitting .265 in his last 10 games with nine hits and eight walks. While power isn’t Crawford’s game, he did manage to hit two Tuesday evening, giving him his third career multi-homerun game.
If Crawford can become a guy who hits .270 and walks 100 times a season while leading the league in runs scored and on-base percentage, I’ll be thrilled. If he’s worse than Freddy Galvis, we’ll realize we’ve been looking for fool’s gold for three years.
Crawford’s recent hot streak could mean nothing, and unless his streak continues and Galvis gets hurt we won’t see him in a Phillies uniform anytime soon. Even then I doubt the team gives him a call-up because we’ve seen what happens each time he progresses through the organization.
Next: Nick Williams proving he was ready all along
For now, I’ll settle on the Gold Glove-caliber leader currently manning shortstop in red pinstripes.