Reggie Crawford, 2WP
DOB: 12/4/2000
BATS: L / THROWS: L
ACQUIRED: Drafted 2022, 1st Round
LAST LEVEL: Arizona Complex League
VOLATILITY: Extremely Extreme
GiantFutures 2023 Ranks: #11 Overall, #1 2-Way Player
2022 Performance: Reggie Crawford missed his junior season at college before being drafted thanks to having Tommy John surgery, but was able to play briefly as a hitter in the summer season. Crawford got into just ten games in the ACL, six of which were at the tail end of the regular season, when he went 3-for-21 (.158), with no extra base hits and two walks to nine strikeouts. However, in the playoffs over four games, he went 4-for-17 (.235) with a home run, and one walk against eight strikeouts. Crawford was only a designated hitter in 2022.
Strengths and Weaknesses: So, of course, what stands out for Crawford is his potential as a 2-way player. Crawford has huge potential on both sides, but it also very raw on both sides.
Let’s start with his pitching. Crawford has pitched very, very little, with just eight innings in college, 8.1 innings across two different summer leagues, and some time with Team USA. His fastball can scrape double digits but he lived in the high-90’s with the high spin rate that is all the rage these days. He matches it with a high-80’s slider that has a lot of movement.
The downside is that with such little track record, Crawford has not developed any other pitches, and it’s hard to tell how good his control was before his surgery, much less know how it will be when he gets back on the mound.
As a hitter, Crawford played first base and was a slugger for Connecticut in the Big East. He features plus raw power, and had 13 home runs in his sophomore year over 51 games. What he does need to do is work on his strikeouts, as he struck out 58 times in 232 plate appearances in college (25%) and struck out eight times in 29 plate appearances in his brief pro time. He punished fastballs in college, but he’ll get a lot less of them as a pro.
2023 Outlook: Crawford’s next season is going to be a season of recovery, and it’s not clear when he’ll be back on the mound, but he might end up waiting for the Arizona Complex League to start in June. The Giants have shown interest in keeping Crawford both as a hitter and a pitcher, but the pitching is what everyone’s waiting for.
Future Profile: The big question is…will Reggie Crawford stay a 2-Way Player? In the short-term, yes. But long-term, observers seem to agree that his pitching ability is what excites most people. If he can mature as a hitter, and hunt fastballs to slug, he could end up as a part-time designated hitter. The complication is that Crawford’s pitching profile looks like he’ll be a power reliever. It’s not clear how a 2-way player can be a reliever. So his future of being a 2-way player needs significant advancement in being both a pitcher and a hitter. Which means…his future profile really looks like it’ll be as a power reliever with two potentially overwhelming pitches.
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