Phillies' Justin Crawford is Lacking in One Surprising Area

When the Philadelphia Phillies named Justin Crawford their starting center fielder this season, people expected impressive defense and electrifying baserunning from the rookie.

We haven't really gotten either.

While Crawford has been much better at the plate recently, owning a .308/.356/.415 slash line in the month of August, he hasn't been great defensively, and he hasn't been stealing bases like most anticipated.

The latter is particularly curious.

Crawford has swiped 16 bags this year, and heading into Saturday night's matchup against the Los Angeles Angels, he had not stolen a base since Aug. 7.

This is someone who stole 46 bases in Triple-A last season, and while it's understandable why that number would dip on the big-league level, you would still expect more from someone with such incredible speed.

Crawford hasn't been a bad baserunner by any means. He has only been caught stealing four times, so he is picking his spots well. He just isn't doing it often enough.

This isn't just on Crawford, either. He's a 22-year-old rookie, after all. This also falls on Don Mattingly and the Phillies coaching staff.

One of the primary reasons why Philadelphia chose Crawford as its starting center field heading into 2026 was because of his speed and athleticism, so why hasn't it been on full display? Especially this month with Crawford getting on base so often?

It's puzzling for sure, just like his minus-6 DRS and minus-1 OAA defensively. Crawford was known as an impressive fielder in the minor leagues, and while there were some questions about how he would adjust to the majors, his pedestrian glove has been surprising.

Crawford still has plenty of time to improve. Again, he's incredibly young, and he was kind of thrown into the fire on a contender this season. That's a lot for a kid to handle.

But you do have to wonder if the Phillies may ultimately begin viewing Crawford as more of a fourth outfielder rather than a starter moving forward, especially due to his lack of power (he has homered just twice all year and has a grand total of 23 extra-base hits).