Skip to content
Phillies
Link copied to clipboard

Phillies Notes: Phils to test J.P. Crawford in Arizona Fall League

NEW YORK - As the youngest player in the Eastern League, J.P. Crawford has more than held his own this season. The Phillies will test their top prospect with a six-week stint in the Arizona Fall League beginning next month.

J.P. Crawford sports the Reading Fightin Phils' Go Green uniform.
(Photo courtesy Reading Fightin Phils)
J.P. Crawford sports the Reading Fightin Phils' Go Green uniform. (Photo courtesy Reading Fightin Phils)Read more

NEW YORK - As the youngest player in the Eastern League, J.P. Crawford has more than held his own this season. The Phillies will test their top prospect with a six-week stint in the Arizona Fall League beginning next month.

Crawford was the highest-touted prospect selected Tuesday to play in the six-team AFL. The 20-year-old shortstop will play for the Glendale Desert Dogs along with five double-A Reading teammates and a former high-A Clearwater teammate.

"He just needs to go play," Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development, said by phone. "It's a good league. There's a lot of talent out there, and I think it's a good measuring stick not only for us but for the players to see how they stack up. . . . It's just games and experience."

Catcher Andrew Knapp and outfielder Dylan Cozens will also play in the prospect-laden league, which begins Oct. 13. The Phillies will send four pitchers - a starter in righthander Nick Pivetta and three relievers, lefthander Tom Windle and righthanders Edubray Ramos and Yacksel Rios. Rios is the lone member of the contingent yet to advance to double A.

Reading clinched an Eastern League playoff berth on Monday. Knapp, a 2013 second-round draft pick, broke out this summer with a torrid August. Cozens, a second-round pick in 2012, joined Reading from Clearwater last week. Windle, acquired in December in the Jimmy Rollins trade, has pitched well (1.52 ERA in 232/3 innings) since he was converted from a starter to a reliever.

Crawford, widely considered among the best prospects in baseball, entered Tuesday hitting .270 with a .781 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 326 at-bats since his promotion to double A in late May. The 16th overall pick of the 2013 draft could reach the major leagues next year.

"We're happy with his year," Jordan said. "He's a better defensive player and offensive player. I'm really happy defensively what he's done, for sure. He's had a good year, so [the AFL] will be a good way to cap it off."

Phils call up three

Three new Phillies arrived at Citi Field's visitors clubhouse Tuesday, the first day of major-league roster expansion. The team promoted righthanders Dalier Hinojosa and Colton Murray to aid its beleaguered bullpen, as well as veteran Erik Kratz to serve as a third catcher.

Each of the players came from triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster for Murray and Kratz, the Phillies moved injured starting pitchers Chad Billingsley (flexor strain) and Matt Harrison (back) from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

Extra bases

Outfielder Aaron Altherr started for the sixth straight game Tuesday against the Mets. ... Forgotten Cuban righthander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez allowed five runs in a three-inning start Tuesday for Lehigh Valley. It was Gonzalez's first non-rehab start of the season, the second year of his unfruitful three-year, $12 million contract. - Jake Kaplan