Justin Crawford earning the Phillies’ trust as his MLB debut draws closer

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The kid wearing No. 80 took the first two pitches he saw from the best left-hander in the entire sport. Justin Crawford was just trying to hit something hard. He saw a 96 mph sinker from Tarik Skubal for a strike and did not flinch on a slider down and away for a ball.

“Look inside,” Crawford said, “and be ready to go.”

He laughed. Soon, Crawford will have a new number — one in the single digits — and he will be a big-league starting outfielder. It is so close. The Phillies have yet to tell Crawford, 22, that he’s made the team. It is a formality. He knows it. Everyone does.

“Very excited,” Crawford said. “It’s kind of one of those things where I’m trying to hold it in just a little bit. Because I still have to go out there and play. For sure, definitely when I have some time to myself, it’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid. So being this close definitely feels good.”

It is just the beginning. There is work to do. Crawford guessed right — Skubal came inside — and he turned on a changeup down and in. A pitcher’s pitch. Crawford lashed it down the right-field line; it was his second-hardest hit ball all spring. It being a left-on-left matchup, the Detroit Tigers had shaded their right fielder well toward center.

Crawford had no hesitation. He went from home to third in 11.56 seconds. He had tripled off Skubal.

“It definitely feels good, that’s for sure,” Crawford said. “I’ve been feeling comfortable and that I belong. But just being able to do that definitely feels good.”

He is still a developing player, and the Phillies are conscious of this even as they ask him to play center field and bat ninth on a team with championship aspirations. There will be challenges. Crawford’s swing, dissected by many in baseball, does not look how swings normally look in the majors. He’s hit .277/.320/.383 in 50 plate appearances this spring; many have come against big-league-caliber pitching. He’s struck out 10 times with two walks.

Skubal, the two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, allowed only six extra-base hits to lefty batters last season. Crawford pulling the ball with authority against any lefty is notable, let alone it being Skubal. So that swing was something.

But Crawford’s spring has not been perfect. He saw Skubal again an inning later and took two fastballs for strikes, then whiffed at a fastball up and in. Another lesson.

“Skubal went upstairs on him; he got out of the zone a little bit,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “But he’s controlled his strike zone. His hitability is unbelievable. He knows where that barrel is, and he makes adjustments in a heartbeat. So for a young guy like that, that’s really impressive. Really opens your eyes, you know? And he hung in there on Skubal. Had a couple of good at-bats.”

This, generally, is the optimistic view of Crawford. He has things to learn; the Phillies have accelerated his timeline because he performed at every level of the minor leagues without significant adjustments to a swing that generates groundballs. But he has shown enough aptitude to make it work with what he has. He has not looked overwhelmed this spring.

Crawford’s locker this spring is the closest to the showers; he’s shared the same area of the clubhouse with the team’s veterans. He has not been shy. Everyone is ready to see what it looks like. His whole life is about to change, beginning Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

“I feel ready,” Crawford said. “I’m ready to go.”

“The ability’s there,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “He asks questions. He wants to learn. He wants to get better. The swing’s good. He works hard. So I think it’s just going to be how fast can he adjust? How consistent can he be? But, I mean, it’s everything you want from a guy who’s never really played an out in the big leagues. I’ve been impressed by him. I think the coaches have, too. It speaks to him as a player and a person. So I’m excited for him.”

Crawford knows what the biggest challenge is. This is why the Phillies have played him so much in Grapefruit League games.

“For me, at least at every level, it’s always the pitching,” Crawford said. “You get up there, especially at the big leagues, it’s getting adjusted to the pitching. Even just this spring, the more at-bats I get, I’ve gotten more comfortable. More confident. I think that it’s just the same thing once the season starts. I’m ready to compete, but I know it is going to be a little bit of an adjustment. If that comes, you know, kind of rolling with it.”

It will come because it comes for every rookie. There will be a slump or adversity. Crawford will be the Phillies’ youngest outfielder to start on Opening Day since Mike Anderson in 1972.

Until they tell him, Crawford said, he feels like he is fighting for a spot. But the Phillies have made it clear, as early as last November, that Crawford was in their plans. He did not face-plant this spring to alter that timeline.

So, yeah, he’s been thinking ahead. A team official had asked him earlier this spring about what he might have in mind as a replacement for No. 80. Crawford smiled.

It’s almost here.

“I have one,” Crawford said. “I have a number I’m going with.”