Phillies' Justin Crawford Among Top Offseason Question Marks

The Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Atlanta Braves in the National League wild-card series, seeing their season end just a few days after the regular season.

Philadelphia stumbled down the stretch of the year, almost missing the playoffs entirely in the process. But the Phillies did get in on the final day of the regular season, avoiding a complete collapse in September.

However, with the postseason ending early again for this club, the franchise enters into a pivotal offseason. The Phillies have a lot of questions to answer, both around the roster and in the coaching staff for the upcoming season.

With an impending lockout coming to MLB, Philadelphia may want to address some of these issues beforehand. But that all remains to be seen right now, with the organization trying to figure out what went wrong again.

One of the biggest questions for the offseason is what the team does with outfielder Justin Crawford. MLB insider Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic mentioned Crawford as someone to watch as the offseason starts for the Phillies.

Crawford was expected to be a central piece of the Phillies' lineup this season, and he was. But he ended up struggling a little, both at the plate and on defense, showing some signs of concern.

For the season, Crawford hit .264 with three home runs and 41 RBIs, with an OPS of .662. Crawford was more of a platoon player this season, despite him playing in 149 games for the Phillies.

His struggles against left-handed hitting was a problem at times, and the Phillies decided to use him in different ways. But Crawford was still productive for Philadelphia, and the team will have to decide how to proceed moving forward.

And on defense, Crawford showed that he couldn't handle being in center field. Philadelphia may elect to move Crawford to being a corner outfielder after he struggled in center.

Crawford has the tools to be very good for this Phillies team, and he's just 22 years old, giving him plenty of time to fix his game. The outfielder did make strides during the year, working on his jumps and timing in the outfield.

But for a team like the Phillies that has title aspirations, Crawford is going to have to do more next year. Philadelphia will be watching him closely going forward, hoping that the outfielder can fully develop into the player that the team has expected him to become.