Justin Crawford

In 1999, Carl Crawford was one of the two or three best athletes in the draft class, with a special combination of speed and strength. Several decades later, his son, Justin Crawford, is one of the most impressive athletes in the 2022 draft class. Crawford is much leaner than his father at the same time, with a highly projectable and lanky, 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame that has plenty of room for more strength gains in the future. Crawford showed solid bat-to-ball skills last summer over the showcase circuit, with a slappy approach in games, but sneaky raw power in batting practice given his strength at the time. Scouts noted that Crawford added more muscle throughout the fall and this spring, and he’s started driving the ball with more authority. Crawford has contact skills and will make two-strike adjustments by widening his stance at the plate, but his swing can get lengthy at times, and he’ll need to refine his bat path a bit at the next level. Power should be the last part of his game to develop, and how much he has in the future will depend on how much strength he can add to his frame. Even if he’s never a big power hitter, he should be able to find plenty of extra-base hits by driving balls into the gaps and using his speed on the bases. The industry raved about his performance this spring and he continued to show premium tools. He’s one of the best runners in the class and regularly turns in 70-grade run times, getting out of the box quickly from the left side of the plate and covering tons of ground when underway with long, graceful, loping strides. That speed should allow him to stick in center field, where he has a chance to be an impact defender at the position. Crawford is committed to Louisiana State but has gotten plenty of attention as a prospect in the middle of the first round. Crawford is the latest in a long line of talented prospects produced by Bishop Gorman, including Tyler Whitaker, Austin Wells, Cadyn Grenier and Joey Gallo in the last 10 years.