Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford playing third base in major-league debut
The Phillies have their top shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford playing third base in his major-league debut Tuesday night against the Mets.
The Phillies‘ future lineup is really starting to take shape here in September as some of the top prospects are now in the major-leagues. The team’s newest addition, shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford, will make debut Tuesday night against the Mets.
Crawford will play third base in his debut. Here is the full prospect-laden lineup:
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- 2B Cesar Hernandez
- SS Freddy Galvis
- CF Odubel Herrera
- 1B Rhys Hoskins
- RF Nick Williams
- LF Hyun-Soo Kim
- 3B J.P. Crawford
- C Jorge Alfaro
- RHP Ben Lively
This lineup features four players from the team’s top-ten prospects this season with Hoskins, Williams, Crawford, and Alfaro.
Lively was also in several top -30 lists, making this a majority-prospect lineup.
Crawford started taking reps at third base in recent weeks at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In six games at third, he didn’t make a single error. Crawford also went errorless in five games at second base. He could see playing time all over the diamond as the club wants him to get as many at-bats as possible in these last few weeks.
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Meanwhile, Maikel Franco will spend more and more time on the bench down the stretch this year. In 133 games this season, he has a .223/.278/.387 line with 18 home runs and 62 runs batted in. His -0.8 fWAR is worst in the league among qualified third baseman.
This decision to start Crawford at third also signals that Pete Mackanin wants to get Galvis to play all 162 games this season. While it is a nice feat to accomplish, it doesn’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of things. He may have to move around as well if Crawford is to see any time at shortstop before the season ends.
Tuesday’s lineup could be very similar to what the 2018 Opening Day lineup could look like. With Herrera back from the disabled list and Aaron Altherr hopefully back soon, that is almost certainly what next year’s outfield will be barring any injury. Scott Kingery will likely be mixed into next year’s cloudy infield situation, but for the most part this is what it will look like next year, along with Alfaro behind the plate.
Next: J.P. Crawford promoted to majors
Tuesday’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. EST and can be watched on CSN Philly.