J.P. Crawford has placed second on another Baseball America League Top 20, this time finishing #2 behind Pirates RHP Tyler Glasnow. Crawford was promoted to the Threshers in July and went on to hit .275/.352/.407 with 8 HRs, 10 SBs, and 28 walks to 37 strikeouts. It was a very impressive run for the 19 year old 2013 1st round pick. Crawford is already on the verge of the top 10 prospects in baseball and there is still a lot of room for improvement. He showed more power in the FSL, but he does need to work to the opposite field more. He should be a plus defender long term, but he still has some inconsistency to his play at shortstop. Overall his baseball instincts allow everything to play up and make him a potentially very special player for the Phillies.
The other Phillies prospect that might have had an argument to make the list was center fielder Roman Quinn who hit .257/.343/.370 with 32 SBs in his return from injury, but the FSL was deep this year with at least 15 guys I expect to be Top 100 prospects this offseason. Aaron Nola did not qualify for the league based on his innings pitched
The full FSL list can be found here and a the free list of all Top 20s here.
From Chat:
Karl of Delaware (Georgetown, Delaware): Anybody other than your current Baseballamerica cover boy (Crawford) on Clearwater receive consideration as a good Phillies prospect?
John Manuel: That is a great freaking cover in my humble opinion. One of my all-time BA favorites. Roman Quinn gets the requisite Chone Figgins and Ben Revere comparisons for his small stature and explosive speed. People just have real questions about how much impact is in the bat; he does not have Revere’s feel for the barrel. The makeup will help him be a productive player, though, big fan of Roman’s.
Dave (Richmond): Is Jimmy Rollins a good major league comp for JP Crawford or is that lazy because they're both Phillies? Is there a better comp?
John Manuel: You said lazy; I’ll just say inaccurate. At 6-2, Crawford is 6 inches taller than J-Roll. Not a lot of 6-2 LH-hitting shortstops out there are there? Only recent regular LH-hitting SS that jumps to mind is Stephen Drew, and he’s not Drew, different kind of player. So really I’m not sure whom to compare him to. I think he’ll be an offensive dynamo at shortstop, because this is a teen with polish at the plate and the tools to stick at short. He’s got a chance to be a top 25-30 prospect in the game when we do the top 100 in the spring.
Previously:
Aaron Brown #18 in NYPL
J.P. Crawford #2 in SAL
Jesmuel Valentin #12 in MWL