Leo Crawford

Leonardo Lenard Crawford Williams

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.

• Born February 2, 1997 in Puerto Cabezas, Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte Nicaragua

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Leonardo Crawford has pitched in the minors and for the Nicaraguan national team.

Crawford signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and debuted on a strong note with the 2015 DSL Dodgers (5-4, 1.41, 74 K, 10 BB in 63 2/3 IP). On June 11, he teamed with Wally Vrolijk and Johan Diaz on a no-hitter of the DSL Mets 1. He was third in the Dominican Summer League in ERA (behind Darwinzon Hernandez and Gabriel Giron) and tied Kevin Gadea for 10th in strikeouts. He was the youngest player on the Nicaraguan squad at the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. The teenager did very well, pitching 1 2/3 shutout innings over two games, with no hits, one walk (to Bruce Maxwell) and two strikeouts.

He split the summer of 2016 between the AZL Dodgers (2-1, 2.55, 39 K, 7 BB in 38 1/3 IP) and Great Lakes Loons (4-1, 2.20). With the 2017 Loons, he fell off significantly, to 7-10, 4.60. He tied for 7th in the Midwest League in losses. Back with Nicaragua for the 2017 Central American Games, he went the distance in a mercy rule five-inning rout of Honduras (2 H, 2 BB, 8 K). In the round-robin phase, only Gustavo Martinez and Jorge Zavala pitched more innings with a 0.00 ERA.

Leo split 2018 between the Loons (0-5, 4.02, 6 BB in 47 IP), Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (8-0, 2.77 in 13 G) and the Oklahoma City Dodgers (0-1, 4 R, 3 ER in 1/3 IP in a rough AAA debut). He tied for 6th in the California League in wins. Among Dodgers farmhands, he tied Parker Curry and Nolan Long for fifth in wins. He allowed one run in five to beat Francisco Haro and Mexico in the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier; Jorge Bucardo took over for him. Nicaragua won a spot in the 2019 Pan American Games (finishing third) and he tied Leuris Gómez and Carlos Téller for 5th in ERA. That summer, he pitched for the Quakes (5-4, 2.96, 106 K, 20 BB in 91 1/3 IP) and the Tulsa Drillers (2-0, 2.37 in 6 G). He was 4th in the Dodgers farm system with 134 K (between Andre Jackson and Willis Montgomerie) and had the 3rd-best ERA (2.81) among those with 100+ IP, behind Josiah Gray and Edwin Uceta.

The lefty was on Nicaragua's announced roster for the 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers when that was one of the first baseball events to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also wiped out the 2020 minor league season. He was then dealt as the player to be named later for former All-Star Corey Knebel in a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers. He struggled with the 2021 Biloxi Shuckers, though, at 2-5, 4.92 with a save. He did strike out 66 in 64 innings. That winter, he allowed one run in 3 2/3 IP as a LOOGY for the Estrellas Orientales.

Moving on to the indy leagues, he was bombed with the 2022 Tri-City Valley Cats (2-3, 6.81 in 7 G). He made two appearances for Nicaragua in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In his first outing, he relieved J.C. Ramirez in the 5th with a 1-1 tie, two on and no outs against Brazil. After Vítor Ito laid down a sacrifice bunt, he was succeeded by Junior Téllez. His other game was an elimination contest against Argentina. Replacing Téllez with a 4-2 deficit in the 5th, two outs and one on, he struck out Eduardo Zurbriggen to escape further harm (Argentina had scored twice that frame). In the 6th, he struck out Agustín Tissera and Lucas Nakandakare and Matías Robles lined out. Nicaragua scored three times in the bottom of the 6th. In the 7th, he retired Andrés Kim but Lucas Stalman homered to tie it. After he got Sebastián García, Berman Espinosa relieved. Nicaragua would rally to win that game then avenge their loss to Brazil to win a spot in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic.