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The Phillies’ Outfield Could Use Justin Crawford

Originally posted on Just Baseball | By Cristian Crespo | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 6:08 PM ET

The Philadelphia Phillies are doing what the Phillies do. With the help of veteran play, an explosive offense, strong pitching, and solid contributions from anyone Rob Thomson pencils into his lineup card, they find themselves sitting atop the National League East with a five-game lead over the slumping New York Mets.

Trea Turner is having an incredible year, both with the bat and in the field, as he is putting together a career year defensively with +14 OAA. Kyle Schwarber is hitting his majestic bombs that never seem to go any less than 400 feet. Bryce Harper may not be hitting to the MVP-level he’s done in the past, but just his presence in the lineup is enough to make opposing pitchers nervous.

I can go on and on about the rest of the guys, but the biggest hole is something that has haunted them for years.

What is their plan to improve upon the 1.8 fWAR combined between the four players who have occupied the center field position for this team in 2025? Their midseason acquisition, Harrison Bader, is posting a 69 wRC+ since he started to call Philadelphia his new home.

It is not just center field where the Phillies have struggled either. Max Kepler has not done what was expected of him when he signed as a free agent this past winter. Likewise, per most defensive metrics utilized across the leagues, Nick Castellanos ranks easily amongst the league’s worst, not to mention being in the middle of a prolonged slump at the plate.

Lucky for them, their real answer is already in their organization.

Justin Crawford has been a member of the Phillies organization since he was selected 17th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft. If the last name sounds familiar, if you did not know by now, he is the son of former major-leauge speedster, Carl Crawford.

Phillies fans have been clamoring for Crawford to be called up to fix the mess that is currently occupying the center field position for quite some time. Not just that, but for a team that is always seemingly searching for depth on their bench to help them reach the pinnacle, it is hard to believe that someone of Crawford’s pedigree — even with just his speed alone — doesn’t provide value to this team.

Regarding his call-up, it’s not like they don’t have a point in doing so.

Justin Crawford hit .336 with an .842 OPS the first half of the season.

Crawford is hitting .327 with an .871 OPS in the second half. #Phillies
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) August 17, 2025

In Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Crawford is hitting .333/.414/.441 with only four home runs, but he has 39 stolen bases, a 131 wRC+, and has made significant strides in improving his defense in center field. His manager with the IronPigs, Anthony Contreras, has made it a point of emphasis when he is asked about how Justin Crawford is developing into a future major leaguer:

“I think with center field, he’s just continuing to improve on his first step,” IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras said Sunday. “Obviously, routes and angles and things like that are a constant work in progress, but he’s made strides.”

So, why isn’t he up right now? Many may quickly refer to service time manipulation. Fortunately, we have now passed that point where minor leaguers can now be called up and retain prospect status in 2026. Now that we are looking past that, there is one “issue” the Phillies might want him to fix before they make the call.

Crawford’s Overall Profile

While the batting average is the first thing to stick out to the majority of baseball fans, there is one underlying issue that, while it may not be that much of a problem for someone of Crawford’s profile, could be a cause for concern once he makes the jump to the major leagues.

Crawford is currently hitting the ball on the ground a whopping 60.7% of the time. Even with a contact rate safely above 80%, currently sitting at 84.8%, it will likely be a detriment to his game once he faces the ultimate competition.

While we do have outliers like Chandler Simpson of the Tampa Bay Rays, who can outrun essentially everything he puts on the ground, Crawford is going to be tasked with driving runners in, as he’s likely to be penciled into the bottom of the order.

However, who is to say that Crawford can’t just be another exception to what everyone deems as a profile that cannot succeed at the next level?

Crawford has done a great job at making sure he has a well-rounded approach at the plate as a whole. That is evident by his righty/lefty splits shown below:

This article first appeared on Just Baseball and was syndicated with permission.

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