Why Has JP Crawford Not Been Promoted To The Majors Yet?

In the 2013 MLB Draft with the 16th overall pick, the Phillies selected J.P. Crawford.  Since then Crawford has been labelled as one of the Phillies top prospects but the team is still waiting to see him showcase his talents.  In 5 Minor League seasons, Crawford has compiled a .268 Batting Average and a .365 On-Base Percentage, statistics that don't necessarily jump off the page.  This season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Crawford has appeared in 56 Games with a .194 Batting Average and .313 On-Base Percentage, numbers that are very concerning for 22 year old top prospect.

ESPN.com Senior Baseball Writer Keith Law joined Mike Gill on Wednesday and gave his perspective on what is going on with J.P. Crawford:

"I asked a scout I was sitting with the other day and he kinda just shrugged his shoulders. I don’t know whats wrong, definitely there's a lot of people last 2 years that have questioned his effort level....Is JP Crawford bored or disappointed that hes in AAA?  Well probably but that shouldn’t necessarily be affecting his play on the field. If you're the Phillies you don’t want to call this guy up....If this is a focus issue its cause he's not hurt, his swing isn’t bad, hes not striking out excessively, all the things you might look for and say hey maybe this guy isn’t good enough or not ready.  None of that is true so maybe it’s a situation where you gotta sit down with the player and say there's no automatic call up to the big leagues for you. If you're sick of being in AAA then show us you need to be in the big leagues, give us a reason to promote you…Scouts that I’ve talked to that have seen him have gotten back to me and said is this the guy you had ranked top 10 in baseball, he looks terrible. He’s not doing anything on contact and isn’t playing hard. When you’re not hitting, sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is just play hard so at least people recognize that you’re still putting in the effort level."

Checkout what Law had to say about the Phillies 2017 MLB Draft picks along with his analysis of GM Matt Klentak and prospects such as Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, and more