Justin Crawford

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #3 prospect in 2026
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Average
  
  Adjusted Grade: 50
  
  Track Record: The son of four-time all-star outfielder Carl Crawford, Justin has been one of the most productive hitters for average in the minor leagues since the Phillies drafted him 17th overall out of high school in 2022. Crawford spent all of 2025 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley and hit .334 to rank third in the full-season minor leagues. He owns a career .332 average as a pro.
  
  Scouting Report: There’s little doubt about Crawford’s ability to make hard contact. Now, the question is whether he’ll ever get the ball in the air often enough to turn it into impact. His groundball rate over the last two seasons is 60.2%, fourth-worst in the minors among players with 500 or more at-bats. He’s made minor improvements year over year in that department, but he still lets the ball travel too far into the strike zone to put balls over infielders’ heads and into gaps, where his double-plus speed would open the door for extra bases. If Crawford’s power never materializes, it’s imperative that he sticks in center field. Whether he can is the subject of debate. Scouts see a player whose elite speed can help him make up for late jumps and rough routes, while analysts rate him as one of the worst defensive center fielders in the minor leagues. Part of the reason for the disparity is because the Phillies have had Crawford play a more shallow center field in order to amplify his excellent ability to come in on shallow flies. The strategy downgrades his chances of reaching deeper drives, thus dinging his ratings. His game-breaking speed and average arm would make Crawford a plus defender in left field, but a long-term move would require him to unlock more power to fit the offensive profile.
  
  The Future: Crawford will have an opportunity to make the Phillies’ Opening Day roster, but his ultimate value will key on whether he can turn his raw strength into higher-quality contact.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 70 | Field: 50 | Arm: 50.
• 
  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #4 prospect in 2025
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/High.
  
  Track Record: The Phillies signed Tait out of Panama in 2022, when he was one of the youngest players available in that year’s international class. Despite his youth, he posted an outstanding season in the Dominican Summer League, where he earned a nod as an all-star and helped lead his squad to the postseason. He followed it up with a strong stateside debut, which included six home runs in the Florida Complex League followed by five more in just 28 games with Low-A Clearwater.
  
  Scouting Report: Tait is a strong-bodied catcher with a smooth, powerful swing from the left side geared to annihilate fastballs with impressive ease. His thump rates as the best in the organization, an assertion backed up by strong analytical numbers, including 90th percentile and maximum exit velocities of roughly 103 and 112 mph. Tait started slowly in the FCL before a few mechanical tweaks and stronger swing decisions helped right the ship. Going forward, he’ll need to continue to improve his chase and avoid falling into the trap of getting too pull-heavy. Defensively, there are plenty of questions about whether he can remain behind the plate. He’s already a bigger-bodied player, and he’s worked through different setups, including the popular one-knee-down version, to find something to his liking and help him better frame balls at the bottom of the zone. He has above-average arm strength, which can play down thanks to a slower transfer. He’s a below-average runner who might slow down further as he ages, depending on how he is able to shape his body as he moves through the minor leagues.
  
  The Future: Tait has plenty of the hallmarks associated with a player who fits into the middle of an order. Whether he sticks at catcher is a question that won’t be answered for years.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 40 | Fielding: 45 | Arm: 55
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 70 | Field: 50 | Arm: 50.
• 
  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #2 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 55/High
  
  Track Record: Crawford is the son of 15-year big leaguer and four-time all-star Carl Crawford. The younger Crawford was selected out of high school in Las Vegas in the first round of the 2022 draft. In his first full season, split between Low-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore, Crawford produced a .332 average that was seventh overall in the minors and the best for any player without upper-level experience. He represented Philadelphia in the Futures Game.
  
  Scouting Report: Crawford’s goals entering the year revolved around improving the quality of his at-bats and adding more strength to his lower half. Now, the next step is improving his bat path and catching pitches in front of the strike zone in order to get them in the air more often. He was one of the most extremely groundball-oriented hitters in the minors in 2023, with an average launch angle of -9 degrees and a groundball rate of roughly 70% between both stops. He hits the ball plenty hard--his 90th percentile exit velocity was 103.1 mph--now he needs to get it off the ground. Crawford’s chase rate was a bit high, but his in-zone miss rate of 13.4% was excellent. Defensively, Crawford’s double-plus speed helps him make up plenty of ground in center field, but there’s work to be done to make the most of his capabilities. Presently, his speed helps mask reads, routes and jumps that scouts believe could stand to be sharpened. If he makes those improvements, he could develop into an above-average defender. If he does have to move to a corner, his average arm strength would fit in left field, but his offensive game fits much better in center.
  
  The Future: Crawford’s skill set evokes the classic turn-and-burn hitter at the top of a lineup. He’ll return to High-A in 2024 with a chance at reaching the upper levels by the summertime.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 70 | Field: 55 | Arm: 50
• 
  Ranked Philadelphia Phillies #4 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme
  
  Track Record: The son of four-time all-star Carl Crawford, Justin was one of the best athletes in the 2022 draft. He impressed over the 2021 summer showcase circuit and had an excellent senior season at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High. The Phillies drafted him 17th overall, making him the highest drafted prep position player by the organization since Mickey Moniak went first overall in 2016, and signed him for an over-slot $3.89 million. Crawford started his pro career in the Florida Complex League, hitting .297/.395/.351 in 11 games before finishing the season with a five-game stint at Low-A Clearwater.
  
  Scouting Report: Crawford has a long and lanky, 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame with room to add strength. He began putting on muscle during the fall of his senior year, and it was a continued area of emphasis for him during 2022 instructional league. He has a contact-oriented offensive approach with good bat-to-ball skills, doing a lot of his damage on the ground and to the gaps, with a swing that can get lengthy at times. He has plus-plus speed underway that should allow him to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He shows occasional power, but he struggles at times to get his barrel out and use leverage in his swing. He has below-average juice, with the potential to reach solid-average power with the necessary tweaks and strength gains. Crawford's 70-grade speed allows him to cover a lot of ground in center field, and he's a plus defender there with an average arm.
  
  The Future: Crawford is still raw and is years away from the big leagues, but his exciting blend of tools profiles well as a top-of-the-order bat who provides plus defense in center field. After getting his first taste of full-season ball in 2022, he'll head back to Low-A Clearwater in 2023.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 55. Power: 40. Speed: 70. Fielding: 60. Arm: 50.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #18 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas Committed/Drafted: Louisiana State
  Age At Draft: 18.5
  BA Grade: 60/Extreme
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 70 | Field: 60 | Arm: 50
  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.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #83 prospect in 2025
• Ranked Baseball America's #44 prospect in 2024
• Ranked Baseball America's #73 prospect in 2023

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme
  
  Track Record: The son of four-time all-star Carl Crawford, Justin was one of the best athletes in the 2022 draft. He impressed over the 2021 summer showcase circuit and had an excellent senior season at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High. The Phillies drafted him 17th overall, making him the highest drafted prep position player by the organization since Mickey Moniak went first overall in 2016, and signed him for an over-slot $3.89 million. Crawford started his pro career in the Florida Complex League, hitting .297/.395/.351 in 11 games before finishing the season with a five-game stint at Low-A Clearwater.
  
  Scouting Report: Crawford has a long and lanky, 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame with room to add strength. He began putting on muscle during the fall of his senior year, and it was a continued area of emphasis for him during 2022 instructional league. He has a contact-oriented offensive approach with good bat-to-ball skills, doing a lot of his damage on the ground and to the gaps, with a swing that can get lengthy at times. He has plus-plus speed underway that should allow him to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He shows occasional power, but he struggles at times to get his barrel out and use leverage in his swing. He has below-average juice, with the potential to reach solid-average power with the necessary tweaks and strength gains. Crawford's 70-grade speed allows him to cover a lot of ground in center field, and he's a plus defender there with an average arm.
  
  The Future: Crawford is still raw and is years away from the big leagues, but his exciting blend of tools profiles well as a top-of-the-order bat who provides plus defense in center field. After getting his first taste of full-season ball in 2022, he'll head back to Low-A Clearwater in 2023.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 55. Power: 40. Speed: 70. Fielding: 60. Arm: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 55/Extreme
  
  Track Record: The son of four-time all-star Carl Crawford, Justin was one of the best athletes in the 2022 draft. He impressed over the 2021 summer showcase circuit and had an excellent senior season at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High. The Phillies drafted him 17th overall, making him the highest drafted prep position player by the organization since Mickey Moniak went first overall in 2016, and signed him for an over-slot $3.89 million. Crawford started his pro career in the Florida Complex League, hitting .297/.395/.351 in 11 games before finishing the season with a five-game stint at Low-A Clearwater.
  
  Scouting Report: Crawford has a long and lanky, 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame with room to add strength. He began putting on muscle during the fall of his senior year, and it was a continued area of emphasis for him during 2022 instructional league. He has a contact-oriented offensive approach with good bat-to-ball skills, doing a lot of his damage on the ground and to the gaps, with a swing that can get lengthy at times. He has plus-plus speed underway that should allow him to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He shows occasional power, but he struggles at times to get his barrel out and use leverage in his swing. He has below-average juice, with the potential to reach solid-average power with the necessary tweaks and strength gains. Crawford's 70-grade speed allows him to cover a lot of ground in center field, and he's a plus defender there with an average arm.
  
  The Future: Crawford is still raw and is years away from the big leagues, but his exciting blend of tools profiles well as a top-of-the-order bat who provides plus defense in center field. After getting his first taste of full-season ball in 2022, he'll head back to Low-A Clearwater in 2023.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 55. Power: 40. Speed: 70. Fielding: 60. Arm: 50.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 55/Extreme
  
  August Update: 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&#39s 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&#39ll 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&#39s 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&#39s 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.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55. Power: 45. Run: 70. Field: 60. Arm: 50.