Giants' Reggie Crawford: Looks sharp in Double-A debut
Rotowire
Crawford (lat) struck out one and worked around a walk over a scoreless inning in his season debut Tuesday in Double-A Richmond's 3-2 loss to Harrisburg.
Crawford was held back at extended spring training for the start of the minor-league season while he continued his recovery from a left lat strain, but he missed just over two weeks of action before he was cleared to report to an affiliate. Even though Crawford had covered just eight innings at High-A Eugene to close out the 2023 season, the Giants aggressively pushed the 23-year-old lefty to Richmond, where he's likely to spend most of the 2024 campaign. Though the Giants have pulled the plug on having Crawford develop as a two-way player, turning his focus to pitching on a full-time basis could accelerate his climb to the big leagues. Crawford has started in each of his 14 career minor-league appearances, but he's logged just 20 total innings and looks as though he could be deployed in relief whenever he ultimately reaches the majors.
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Giants' Reggie Crawford: Out with lat strain
Rotowire
The Giants announced Wednesday that Crawford is recovering from a lat strain and won't throw for the next 3-to-4 weeks, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
Crawford had been developed as a two-way player for his first two professional seasons after being selected in the first round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft, but he'll be making a full-time move to pitching in 2024. However, given that he's not expected to begin throwing until around the middle of March, Crawford may face an uphill battle to gain clearance for the start of the minor-league season in early April. Once healthy, the 23-year-old will likely open the campaign at High-A Eugene, with whom he posted a 1.13 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 14:6 K:BB in eight innings last season following his July promotion from Single-A San Jose.
Crawford has a 1.13 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and a 14:6 K:BB in eight innings across six appearances since getting promoted to High-A Eugene on July 14.
In theory, the Giants may still be developing Crawford as a two-way player, but he only has one plate appearance (a strikeout) at High-A after getting 18 plate appearances while with Single-A San Jose earlier this season. It seems likely that his future will be on the mound, where the 22-year-old has an electric power arsenal from the left side, although the Giants have been very careful with his workload this year. He has huge raw power, but Crawford will struggle to develop a strong enough hit tool, especially while also working on his craft as a pitcher.
