J.P. Crawford

John Paul Crawford

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Lakewood (CA) High School
• Debut September 5, 2017

• Born January 11, 1995 in Long Beach, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Shortstop J.P. Crawford reached the majors in 2017 with Philadelphia, moving to Seattle prior to the 2019 season. He is the cousin of All-Star outfielder Carl Crawford.

J.P. was taken 16th overall in the 2013 amateur draft by the Phillies and scout Demerius Pittman. He signed for a bonus of just under $2.3 million and debuted with the GCL Phillies on June 27th, going 1-for-4 against the GCL Pirates. He hit .345 in 39 games to earn a promotion to the Lakewood Blue Claws of the South Atlantic League, where he hit .208 in 14 games. Overall, his batting line was .308/.405/.400 with 35 runs scored and 21 RBI in 53 games. In 2014, he was assigned back to Lakewood to start the year and hit .295 in 60 games. The Phillies continued to promote him aggressively, moving him up to the Florida State League at midseason. Playing for the Clearwater Threshers, he hit .275. At only 19, he was almost four years younger than the average player in the FSL, making his ability to keep up that much more impressive. Overall, his batting line was .285/.375/.406 in 123 games, with 69 runs scored, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. The fact that Crawford was developing nicely allowed the Phillies to make the decision to trade long-time shortstop Jimmy Rollins after the 2014 season. While he was not in line to succeed him immediately, the Phillies were penciling him for a late 2016 or early 2017 arrival at Citizens Bank Park.

It took slightly longer than planned, but J.P. made his debut on September 5, 2017. He hit .214/.356/.300 in 23 games during his first taste. In 2018, he was the Phils' starting shortstop the first month of the season, but hit just .188 in his first 21 games, then went on the disabled list with a forearm strain. Another rookie, Scott Kingery, took over in his absence, and J.P. never really regained his starting job, playing a stretch of games in June and returning for September. That third and final stint was his best, as he managed to raise his average from .191 to .214, but it was still well below what the Phillies expected. Seeking to contend sooner rather than later after having been in the postseason race most of 2018, the Phils traded for veteran shortstop Jean Segura, plus relievers Juan Nicasio and James Pazos from the Seattle Mariners, who were going through a fire sale, with J.P. heading the other way along with first baseman Carlos Santana. Coming up in May of 2019, he hit .226/.313/.371 in 93 games in his first season in Seattle.

He began to fulfill his promise during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as he played in 53 of the Mariners' 60 games and hit .255 with 2 homers and 24 RBIs, but more importantly won a Gold Glove for his defensive play at shortstop. In 2021, he managed to bring his OPS+ above 100 for the first time as Seattle fell just short of a postseason appearance. In 160 games, he hit .273 with 9 homers and 53 RBIs, scored 89 runs and hit 37 doubles, bringing his OPS+ to 102. The Mariners did finally make it to the postseason in 2022, as a wild card team, breaking a drought of over two decades. During the regular season, he maintained his OPS+ at an even 100 by hitting .243 with 6 homers and 42 RBIs in 145 games. However, the Triple Crown stats were not really what defined his contributions - more important was his drawing 68 walks (while striking out just 80 time) for an OBP of .339, and adding 24 doubles. He did not score as many runs as the previous season - 57 - largely because he was hitting ninth for most of the year. He had what was probably the biggest hit of the season for the Mariners, a bases-loaded bloop double off closer Jordan Romano in the 8th inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card Series on October 8th that fell between SS Bo Bichette and CF George Springer, clearing the bases and tying the game at 9-9; the M's went on to score the winning run in the 9th to complete the sweep. It was his only hit of the series, and he then went 3 for 14 with a double and a homer as the Mariners were swept by the Houston Astros in the Division Series.

Notable Achievements

• AL Gold Glove Winner (2020)
• AL Bases on balls Leader (2023)

Related Sites

• J.P. Crawford on mlb.com
• BR Minors page