J.P. Crawford will return to the Phillies in the near future as he begins a rehab assignment Monday. Where will he go once he finishes rehabbing?
After being hit with a pitch about a month and a half ago, J.P. Crawford started a rehab assignment Monday in Florida with the Gulf Coast League Phillies East. He walked four times and drove in three runs in a resounding 23-3 win over the GCL Pirates.
Crawford has been in Clearwater since Thursday nursing a broken wrist. He has slowly been working his way back for a few weeks now. Matt Breen of Philly.com says Crawford could be back in early August.
When Crawford does come back, playing time for him will be limited. In the two weeks that he was healthy in early June, Crawford spent the majority of his time at third base. He actually performed decently well in that span with a .425 on-base percentage and a 125 wRC+ between June 6 and 19.
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However, Maikel Franco has been one of the team’s hottest bats since Crawford’s most recent injury. Since June 19, Franco has a .327/.367/.611 line with eight home runs, eight doubles, and 16 runs batted in. It’s unlikely Franco gets unseated for Crawford.
Scott Kingery has taken over as the everyday shortstop with Crawford’s multiple injuries, but his performance has lacked. He has a .233/.274/.335 line with a 25 percent strikeout rate. Kingery has constantly buried himself at the plate with 0-2 counts, and it has shown up on the stat sheet. Despite that, the team still holds him in high regard and Kingery continues to play almost every day.
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What further muddies the water for Crawford is the recent addition of Asdrubal Cabrera. While Cabrera’s defense is sub-par, his bat is anything but. In 98 games before being traded, he had an .817 OPS, 18 home runs, and 58 runs batted in for the Mets. While his career as a Phillie didn’t start well over the weekend, his numbers this year far outclass Crawford.
When Crawford does come back, he could wind up in a bench role. Right now, the bench consists of Andrew Knapp, Cabrera, Trevor Plouffe, and Roman Quinn. Crawford offers more defensive versatility than Plouffe, meaning Crawford would likely replace him. Even then, does that mean Crawford, one of the club’s best prospects coming into this year, gets little playing time?
There is always the chance that Crawford or Kingery goes back to Triple-A to get more consistent playing time and cure what has ailed them this season. It’s certainly not ideal, but it may be the best option for their development.
Figuring out where Crawford fits into the puzzle upon his return will certainly be an interesting task for the club to handle when the times come.