Skip to main content

Phillies Select SS Crawford with 16th Overall Pick, Catcher Knapp Taken in 2nd Round

The Phillies took another player out of Lakewood High School with their first pick in the MLB amateur draft on Thursday night.  J.P. Crawford became the third player taken by the Phils from the southern California school with an early round pick in the past seven seasons.  Last year, righty pitcher Shane Watson, who played with Crawford since both prospects were very young, was taken by the Phils with their first pick, 40th overall.  Watson's older brother Scotty played with the other of the Phils' Lakewood High draft picks, Travis d'Arnaud.

Crawford, a lefty batting shortstop, is highly touted and is said to have tremendous defensive abilities at his position with exceptional range and a strong arm.  The 18-year-old hit .432 in 25 games in his senior season this year and is his school's all-time leader in hits and runs scored.  Offensively, he has a high ceiling, but does not project to hit for great power.

The youngster is a cousin of Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford. Additionally, his father Larry played professional football in Canada.

The 6-foot-2 175-pounder is committed to playing college ball at the University of Southern California on a full-ride scholarship, but according to Phillies assistant general manager in charge of amateur scouting Marti Wolever, as told to CSNPhilly.com, Crawford is ready to sign his first pro contract.

"All indications are that he’s ready to start his professional career, but that’s a difficult decision to make,” Wolever said. “Southern Cal is a great option for him to have, but as far as development goes, I think what we have to offer is a leg up on what he might entertain by going to school."

And when gauging how likely a player is to sign, it's important to keep in mind that while a full scholarship is not something to scoff at, that it is standard for contracts of high school draft choices to include full college tuition paid at a time of the signee's choosing over a four-year period.

Crawford was selected 16th overall by the Phillies with their highest pick since they took Gavin Floyd with the 4th pick in 2001.

Also drafted on Thursday by the Phillies was catcher Andrew Knapp.  The 21-year-old is a University of California product and led the Golden Bears in batting average this year with a .350 mark, and slammed eight homers with 41 RBI.

The lefty hitting Knapp is not related to righty hurler Jason Knapp, who was the Phils' 2nd round selection back in 2008 and ended up being a key trade chip when the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee from the Indians.

I suppose there's not much wrong with taking the best player available, but if there is one position the Phils don't need more depth in, it's catcher.  With currently injured 21-year-old Tommy Joseph, 22-year-old walking trade bait Sebastian Valle and emerging 23-year-old Cameron Rupp all making progress at the upper levels of the organization's developmental ranks, this early draft spot could have been better used.

The Phillies will make their next selections in the draft on Friday.  Their upcoming spots in the draft are in the 3rd round with the 89th and 96th picks.  Selections of the 3rd through 10th rounds will take place beginning on Friday at 12:30 PM, while rounds 11 through 40 will take place on Saturday starting at 1 PM.

A sampling of Crawford's on-field skills can be viewed in the media player below.



Batting practice and game hitting footage of Knapp can be seen in the media player below.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Mike McGuire Living a Dream With Favorite Team

LAKEWOOD, NJ- Every young ballplayer grows up wishing he could play for his favorite team. Mike McGuire has an opportunity to do just that after signing with the Phillies organization in July. McGuire was a 43rd round draft pick taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 2008 amateur draft out of the University of Delaware. Early scouting reports liked McGuire's abilities, despite some arm trouble. He advanced as far as High A Level Kinston last season. While there, he posted an 0-3 record with a 5.46 ERA in 9 games, 8 of which were starts. The Indians weren't happy with McGuire's efforts this spring and released him. McGuire caught on with the Sussex Skyhawks of the independent Can-Am League, where he stayed in shape and pitched against other formerly affiliated minor leaguers. As a starter with the Skyhawks, McGuire went 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 8 outings. From there, just as all players in those independent leagues hope for, the 24-year-old McGuire got noticed. The Phillies wer...

Harry's Plaque Has Misprint

At the ballpark today for the first time since Harry Kalas was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame on Friday, I noticed an error in the text on his plaque. Verbage on the plaque reads like this... Voice of Phillies baseball on radio and TV for 39 seasons. Teamed with Richie Ashburn from 1971 until 1997. Harry was on the air for all of Mike Schmidt's 548 home runs, five Phillies no-hitters, seven National League Championship Series, three World Series, the first and final games at Veterans Stadium and the Citizens Bank Park 2004 opener. Received the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award in 2002 for "Major Contributions to Baseball" and was inducted into the broadcasters' wing at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. His calls were legendary, especially his signature home run call, "Outta heeere." On October 29, 2008, he brought utmost joy to Phillies fans: "The 0-2 pitch, swing and miss , struck him out. The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 Worl...