I have seen Justin Crawford play a lot of baseball. A few times with Jersey Shore, a bunch at Reading, and most home games in his one season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. I have to say that I do not share the concerns that a number of people have about him becoming the Phillies center fielder in 2026. Do fans of other teams get this negative when they are bringing up a young player to fill a spot?

Let’s run through some of the criticisms that have gone along with Crawford being penciled in as the Phillies center fielder next season.

Can he handle center field at Citizens Bank Park? I remember back when the Phillies moved to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The ballpark there was built to replicate the dimensions of Veterans Stadium. They wanted to be able to accurately gauge how a player would perform in a park with those dimensions. The plan was slightly flawed though. They couldn’t accurately account for not having a third deck on the park and how it affects wind and the flight of the ball. Some of their judgments were right, others not so much.

Center field at Coca-Cola Park can be a little tricky. For some reason, during night games there is always a stretch of time where the outfielders have a tough time picking up fly balls. Center field is the worst of the three spots and Crawford did a good job of adjusting to it.

There is also a tricky angle to the fence in left-center field where the center fielder is often called on to go toward that angle to make a catch or play a ball that hits off of the angle. Crawford did well in both of those areas. The left fielder also battles with the angle and in his time playing left, Crawford was good there, too.

Truth be told, Crawford is a better left fielder than center fielder, but that’s not to say that he isn’t good enough to play center at CBP.

He doesn’t hit enough home runs / He hits too many groundballs. Crawford is about a week away from his 22nd birthday. Many times, power is the last thing to develop with a young player. Coming into the draft he was advertised as being a better power hitter than he has shown thus far, and that’s okay. Not everybody has to hit home runs. Having said that, when you look at his month-by-month splits from last season, the fact that Crawford had just three home runs at the end of July and hit four in August. So, why the change? Crawford worked with hitting coach Adam Lind to lower his hands at the plate, which led to more power, naturally causing a spike in his SLG and OPS. It also lowered his groundball percentage, which should answer both points to these concerns.

What Crawford does is get on base and make things happen because of his speed. Most projected lineups have him hitting ninth. With the likes of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper coming up, having an on-base guy in that nine hole is perfectly fine. In four minor league seasons, Crawford is a .322/.385/.446 hitter for an OPS of .831 and with the speed that he has, all he needs to do is get on base to cause issues for opponents.

He’s another left-handed hitter. Yup! Crawford hits left-handed. Among players with 50 or more at-bats against left-handed pitchers last season, which IronPigs hitter posted the highest batting average? Justin Crawford at .376 in 85 at-bats. He also posted a .976 OPS, second to only Otto Kemp‘s 1.166 OPS versus lefties. Crawford hit .324 versus right-handers last season with an .848 OPS, both lower than his numbers against lefties.

The Bottom Line… Nowhere in here does it say that Crawford is going to be on fire from his first MLB at-bat of the season. It also doesn’t say to expect an MVP season out of him. What it does say is that he is going to be fine. No moment is too big for Crawford and the fact that he grew up in major league stadiums makes him comfortable in that environment. He has a good head on his shoulders, is open to coaching, he’s smart, and works at his game.

Right now, I don’t see Crawford ever putting up big home run numbers like a Harper or Schwarber. Can I see him being a Trea Turner type of player? With a little patience, Crawford may turn into a left-handed hitting version of Turner. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

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