Phillies fans are counting down the hours, hoping that their exciting young player finally makes it to the big league. But the front office is taking its own sweet time. It’s been a cycle. The call still hasn’t come, and as the games keep ticking by, the excitement is starting to turn to frustration.
The young player we are talking about is Justin Crawford—the 21-year-old outfield phenom with game-breaking speed and the kind of contact bat that makes old-school scouts grin. He’s tearing up Triple-A pitching with a .326 batting average and a. .835 OPS. His rise has been anything but quiet. For the past two months, Crawford has walked more than he’s struck out, reached base at will, and stolen bags with the ease of a vet. Yet, the Phillies haven’t budged.
“You’ve probably heard the old football wisdom that a team with two quarterbacks actually has none,” insider David Murphy wrote in his column for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “The same might be true of a baseball team with four corner outfielders,” he further added. It’s an acknowledgment of how muddled Philly’s outfield picture has become. With Brandon Marsh, Harrison Bader, and Max Kepler all jostling for time, and none running away with it, the cries for Crawford are only getting louder.
IL 2024: RED WINGS VS IRON PIGS APR 29th April 29th 2025: Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs outfielder Justin Crawford 3 takes a swing in a game against the Rochester Red Wings. The Rochester Red Wings hosted the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs in an International League game at Innovative Field in Rochester, New York. Jonathan Tenca/CSM Credit Image: Â Jonathan Tenca/Cal Media Rochester New York United States of America EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xx ZUMA-20250429_zma_c04_104.jpg JonathanxTencax csmphotothree380221
Per Murphy, the call-up isn’t going to come anytime soon because only one plan makes sense for Crawford right now. That is to let him keep playing every day in Triple-A through August, add him to the 40-man roster by the postseason roster eligibility deadline (August 31), and only promote him to the majors if the alternatives truly bottom out, or when the minor league season ends on September 25.
But the idea that Crawford can’t help this team today feels absurd when you look at the numbers. Since May 21, he’s hitting .337 with a .442 OBP and 20 stolen bases in just over 200 plate appearances. Six straight games with a hit, and 7 out of the last 9 games where he has reached base at least twice. The bat may not be booming with power yet, but the discipline, speed, and spark? They’re already big-league ready. Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski is probably of the same view as well.
What makes Justin Crawford different?
When Dave Dombrowski talks about a prospect with much excitement, it’s worth paying attention. Justin Crawford might not smash home runs, but his game forces you to look twice. He doesn’t overpower the opponents, but outpaces and out-hustles them.
“Justin’s got elite talents,” Dombrowski said a few days back. “He’s a good outfielder. He can fly. He really runs well. He’s got good bat-to-ball skills. He’s aggressive on the bases. He makes a lot of contact. He’s got an unusual type of batting style in that he gets a lot more balls on the ground, which, in his case, I don’t think is really bad. And also, he gets a lot of balls to the opposite field. He gets the ball deep in the zone, so he hits a lot of balls to left field. But he also has the speed to beat those out. He’s an exciting type of player.”
The takeaway? The Phillies know exactly what they have in Crawford. He brings chaos on the bases and consistency at the plate. And that may be exactly what this team needs. But when will he be called up?
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