The future could be arriving sooner than expected for Philadelphia Phillies fans, as members of the Phillies front office have been dropping subtle hints all offseason that two of the team's top prospects could be part of the Phillies' plans for 2025. Following uncertainty over who will fill the fifth spot in the rotation, as well as a center field job that's recently been placed up for grabs, it seems very likely that Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford will make their MLB debuts sometime next season.
For Painter, this offseason has done nothing to quiet the hype train surrounding the talented 21-year-old right-hander's promise on the mound. After spending October and November carving up opposing hitters as a member of the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League, the tall, hard-tossing southpaw took home some well-deserved hardware recently, when he was named the AFL's Pitcher of the Year. To say the Phillies No. 2 prospect was dominant this fall is an understatement, especially after producing a record of 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA, with 18 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings pitched,
But Painter isn't the only top Phillies prospect spending his fall on a baseball diamond. Young and dynamic outfielder Justin Crawford's offseason assignment has recently taken him to the Far East, where the talented 20-year-old showcased his many tools for Team USA in the global Premier12 tournament.
Phillies top prospect Justin Crawford does it all in Premier12 tournament
The 2024 WBSC Premier12 tournament arrived in Tokyo, Japan this past weekend, and Crawford and Team USA were one of the last four teams left in the 16-team competition, with gold medals and a $1.5 million prize at stake. Team USA ultimately settled for bronze after defeating Team Venezuela 6-1 on Sunday afternoon in the lead-up to the gold medal game taking place between Chinese Taipei and Japan later that evening.
While Crawford's bat cooled off a bit after a hot start to tournament play, it was his contributions during the opening round that helped Team USA punch their ticket to Tokyo.
Playing alongside an impressive list of MLB top prospects and current big league talent, Crawford established himself as one of Team USA's top hitters. In nine games, Crawford batted .250 with eight hits, three doubles, one home run, and four RBI over 32 at-bats. And it wasn't just his bat that was getting it done on the field, with Crawford registering a perfect 18 for 18 in total chances on the defensive side of things.
That being said, Crawford's most memorable highlight in tournament play came against Team Mexico, launching an opposite-field solo shot that put Team USA ahead 2-1 during the opening round.
JUSTIN CRAWFORD!! #USA #Premier12 pic.twitter.com/DOHsHF4wlE
— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) November 15, 2024
With the Phillies outfield mix an obvious area of improvement this offseason, Crawford has seen his name mentioned as a candidate to takeover the open center field job if he can put together a strong showing in spring training. There's also the trade chatter that has been dominating headlines recently with the Phillies reportedly taking a much more aggressive approach to improving the big league roster this offseason.
All of that outside noise has done little to slow Crawford down this offseason, and he seems ready to join the growing list of father and son duos building a legacy on the baseball diamond.