Key Stat Reveals Why Phillies Want Justin Crawford to Reach Majors in 2026

Justin Crawford is ready for his Major League call-up. His play at the minor league level has been special for two years.

It now seems that the organization agrees. Recently, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the Phillies are at a point where it’s time to give Crawford a chance — and not just an audition.

“We're going to give him an opportunity and have him play a lot,” Dombrowski said during a conference call with reporters. That would lead one to believe that Crawford will get every chance to be Philadelphia’s starting center fielder in 2026.

Their first-round pick in 2022 out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nev., the Phillies have been hoping for this moment for a couple of years. Players don't always progress as organizations hope, even ones with MLB legacies like Crawford. But he’s checked the box at every level, and one statistic stands out above all others.

Justin Crawford’s Key Number

Truly believe Justin Crawford is this generations Shane Victorino

Something to be fired up about pic.twitter.com/miDHgBMQOj
— Phillies HR Tracker (@PHI_HR_Tracker) November 9, 2025

Recently, MLB.com wrote about the best prospect stat from each Major League farm system. For the Phillies, their writers chose Crawford. Now, for many organizations, they used advanced analytics like wRC+ and strikeouts per nine innings. But, in Crawford’s case, they picked something a bit more old-fashioned — batting average.

Crawford batted .334 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2025.

“Before the stat-savvy among you send in angry emails, we are well aware that batting average is far from a perfect stat, but at a certain point in time, you have to give a guy his flowers, no?” per the writers at MLB.com.

Indeed, batting average used to be the gold standard when assessing hitters before the dawn of advanced analytics. While they have their place, Crawford’s batting average stands out when one considers it was with a top-level affiliate and Crawford was in his age 21 season, which happened to be his third full minor league season.

With that batting average, he won the International League batting title. That wasn’t a flash in the pan, either. His lifetime slash in the minor is .322/.385/.446. He probably won’t have the power of his father, former Major Leaguer Carl Crawford, but he has the former All-Star and Gold Glove winner’s speed. Justin Crawford is an elite base stealer who has taken at least 40 bases in each of his three minor league seasons. The mind boggles at the idea of him and Trea Turner in the same lineup.

It’s Crawford’s time now. The numbers — standard and advance — say so.