Justin Crawford's future with the Philadelphia Phillies is becoming more and more obvious.
The Philadelphia Phillies made the controversial decision of heading into the 2026 MLB campaign with rookie Justin Crawford as their starting center fielder, and the early returns weren't great.
Crawford managed a respectable .700 OPS between March and April before posting a miserable .195/.253/.312 slash line in May, and while he bounced back by hitting .307 in June, he followed up with a .589 OPS in July.
The last couple of months, however, Crawford has appeared to turn a corner.
In August, the 22-year-old slashed .306/.358/.403 with 11 RBI, and thus far in September, he has managed a .281/.314/.438 slash line.
Is Crawford knocking anyone's socks off? No, but he is producing respectably well for a rookie, and he is even hitting left-handed pitching, batting .300 against southpaws since June 15.
The issue? Crawford's power is virtually non-existent. He has homered just three times all season, and he has collected just 19 doubles. Crawford's meager 6.1 percent walk rate is also problematic.
There is no question that the former top prospect has value to the Phillies moving forward, but it's looking more and more like he might end up becoming a fourth outfielder.
Can Crawford develop power as he matures? Sure. Look at former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner. In the very early stages of his career, he could barely get the ball out of the infield. He went from that to suddenly blasting over 20 homers twice later on in his big-league tenure.
Of course, not everyone is like Gardner. Some guys never actually develop that type of pop, and Crawford could end up in that group.
And that's okay. Not every player has to smack 20 long balls. But if you're going to be a starting outfielder on a team that lacks offense as it is, you need to be able to reach the fences.
Philadelphia will almost certainly pursue an outfielder in free agency this offseason, and while that doesn't necessarily mean that Crawford will lose his starting job, I could absolutely see a world in which the Phillies move him into a bench role next spring.
Again, Crawford has value. He has terrific speed, and his ability to make contact is important. But his defense in center field (minus-9 defensive runs saved) has been subpar, which lends credence to the notion that he's probably better off in the corners with the ability to play center in a pinch.
Barring a trade, Crawford will be on Philadelphia's roster next season, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him in a more limited role.
