Quite a few Phillies prospects are staying active this offseason. While Andrew Painter and Griff McGarry are both currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League, outfielder Justin Crawford will play for Team USA in the third World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament.
Crawford, MLB’s No. 53 overall prospect, is the third-highest ranked prospect participating in the tournament. He joins three other MLB Top 100 prospects on the Team USA roster: No. 4 prospect Carson Williams, No. 22 prospect Matt Shaw, and No. 75 prospect Termarr Johnson.
The Phillies drafted Crawford, the son of former major leaguer Carl Crawford, in the first round of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. He is currently the Phillies’ No. 3 prospect, behind No. 1 Aidan Miller and No. 2 Painter.
In 2023, his first full season of professional ball, Crawford worked his way up from the Single-A Clearwater Threshers to the High-A Jersey Shore Blue Claws. He earned a promotion to the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils in July 2024, where he finished the season strong with a .333 batting average in 40 games played. Crawford’s impressive showing earned him the 2024 Paul Owens Award, given to the Phillies’ top minor league player, and now he’ll aim to continue that momentum into the Premier12 tournament.
The tournament takes place from Nov. 9-24 in Japan, Mexico and Taiwan. It features the world’s 12 top-ranked teams. South Korea won the first installment in 2015, and Japan won the 2019 tournament on its home turf in the Tokyo Dome.
Team USA will incorporate talented youth with veteran leadership. Nine players with MLB experience will participate, including Dylan Covey. Covey appeared in 28 games for the Phillies and compiled a 3.69 ERA in 2023, but he didn’t throw a major league pitch in 2024 due to injury. He elected free agency on October 10 and will now presumably use the Premier12 tournament as a showcase of his talents.
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