Phillies to Give Top Prospect Justin Crawford Opportunity to Win MLB Job

The Philadelphia Phillies believe the time is now for Justin Crawford to have every chance to win an MLB job.

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Justin Crawford has been on a methodical rise through the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league system. That rise may finally be over.

During a conference call to discuss the signing of new right fielder Adolis Garcia, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski talked about the franchise’s new outfield alignment for 2026. Garcia will play right field, even though incumbent Nick Castellanos is still under contract and likely to be traded. Brandon Marsh will play left field.

Crawford will get every chance to prove he’s ready to be the starting center fielder on opening day, Dombrowski said.

"If you're going to give Crawford an opportunity, you've got to give it to him," Dombrowski said in a comment reported by Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer on X (formerly Twitter). "And that's where we are. We're going to give him an opportunity and have him play a lot."

Justin Crawford’s Minor-League Career

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The last name is familiar. He is the son of former Major Leaguer Carl Crawford. The elder Crawford was a four-time All-Star, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger winner and All-Star Game MVP in a 15-year career that saw him play for the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. Speed was his calling card. He stole 480 career bases and led the Majors or the American League in triples four different times, including 19 in 2004.

The younger Crawford likes to steal bases, too. He’s stolen 145 bases in four minor-league seasons and has at least 40 in each of the last three seasons. He stole 46 with Triple-A Lehigh Valley last season. His minor-league slash is special. Last season he was .334/.411/.452 with seven home runs and 47 RBI. For his minor league career, in 325 games, he’s slashed .322/.385/.446 with 19 home runs and 177 RBI.

For perspective on how that might translate to the Majors, the elder Crawford had a Major League slash of .290/.330/.435.

The Phillies have more than enough slug in their lineup to make up for not having Castellanos in it. Should Crawford win the starting job, he would displace Johan Rojas, who has previously played center field and in some ways is a similar player to Crawford but is not nearly the hitter the 21-year-old is. Rojas has a lifetime slash of .252/.294/.340. In the minor leagues Crawford’s on-base percentage was nearly 100 points better than Rojas’ in the Majors.

There were times last season that Phillies fans clamored for Dombrowski to call up the former first-round pick and start his Major League career. At the time, he told Lauber in a separate story that there is no comparison between Triple-A and the Majors.

 “You can do really well at Triple-A, and I mean, you can just look around, they come to the big leagues and they’re hitting below .200. So, it’s hard,” he said.

The Phillies are going to give Crawford every shot to show that he can, eventually, make the transition.