Reggie Crawford

Reginald David Crawford

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 235 lb.
• School University of Connecticut
• High School North Schuylkill High School

• Born December 4, 2000 in Lansdale, PA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Reggie Crawford was a two-way player in high school and college and was more of a first baseman than a pitcher at that level, but the San Francisco Giants had him focus on pitching after taking him with the 30th pick of the 2022 amateur draft. At the University of Connecticut, he hit .295 with 13 homers and 62 RBIs in 51 games in 2021, while pitching just 7 2/3 innings. However, he did not play at all the year he was drafted after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He had been on teams' radars for a while though, having already been taken in the 37th round of the 2019 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals while coming out of high school. At the time, his main sport was competitive swimming, and he had a legitimate chance of making the U.S. Olympic swimming team - the top swimming programs in the NCAA offered him a scholarship - but his being drafted made him realize that he also had a future in baseball, the sport he preferred. At UConn, he wowed scouts by reaching 100 mph on the mound, and he was the top power hitter in his conference before losing a year to injury. He had filed his papers to transfer to the University of Tennessee for 2023 when he was drafted.

After signing with the Giants for a signing bonus of $2.3 million, he began his pro career with 6 games for the ACL Giants Black in 2022, going 3 for 19 as a DH. In 2023, he was mainly a pitcher, making 7 starts for the San Jose Giants of the California League and 6 for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League. He also DH'ed a few times for San Jose, going 4 for 16. On the mound, he had no decisions, as the Giants kept his outings short, but he did strike out 32 batters in 19 innings and his ERA was 2.84. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League, but was a first baseman, hitting .138 in 17 games. That performance seemed to confirm that his future was on the mound, although his main obstacle was health. He was limited to 14 games and 18 1/3 innings between the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels and AAA Sacramento RiverCats, although he once again struck out 30 batters, and his ERA was 2.95. At the end of the season, after being on the injured list since June, he underwent surgery on the labrum in his shoulder, ruling him out for another long stretch.

Further Reading

• Matt Monagan: "This two-way player could've been an Olympian ... in swimming", mlb.com, January 10, 2024. [1]

Related Sites

• University of Connecticut bio