By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor
It's fair to say that Philadelphia Phillies fans have waited quite some time for J.P. Crawford to make his major league debut. While the 2013 first-round pick quickly became a top prospect, because he was drafted out of high school, he's had three birthdays since being drafted by the club. 2014 first-round pick Aaron Nola, who was drafted out of college, has made 32 career starts already.
Crawford, currently playing for the Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, isn't far from making his much anticipated major league debut, but manager Pete Mackanin told Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly that the Phillies didn't discuss bringing up Crawford to replace the now injured Andres Blanco:
Mackanin gave a succinct answer when asked whether the team considered bringing up top prospect J.P. Crawford.
“None,” he said “No talk about him.”
Though Crawford is now hitting .267, the Phillies elected to call up his Triple A teammate Taylor Featherston instead. Most still believe Crawford will make his major league debut at some point during the 2016 season.
Blanco's injury, though it may have prevented the Phillies from trading him to a contender, may help the Phillies in another way. This Spring Training, Crawford said that he was learning the most from Blanco, who he said "was always there to help somebody out." Blanco is very unlikely to be re-signed by the Phillies this off-season, but having him return from injury around the time that Crawford is ready to make his major league debut may make the Phillies' top prospect's transition to the majors a little easier.