Why SF Giants 2022 first-round pick Reggie Crawford has limitless potential

"He's as advertised." SF Giants 2022 first-round pick Reggie Crawford is finally back on the field and ready to show what he can do as a two-way player.

Players in the SF Giants farm system have gotten off to excellent starts this season throughout the minor leagues. Yet, even as players like Casey Schmitt (Giants #3 prospect), Patrick Bailey (Giants #21 prospect), and Luis Matos (Giants #4 prospect) flash incredible potential, there is no one in the farm system with a higher ceiling than Reggie Crawford (Giants #12), who the Giants drafted in the first-round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of UCONN.

SF Giants 2022 first-round pick Reggie Crawford throws a pitch at Excite Ballpark. (2023) / Shelly Valenzuela

A two-way player, Crawford looked like a future top-five pick after posting a .826 OPS at the Cape Cod League while hitting 99 mph on the mound. However, an elbow injury in fall ball forced him to undergo UCL surgery and miss his final college season. For that reason, Crawford was still available when the Giants were on the clock with the 30th overall pick.

20 months removed from Tommy John surgery, Crawford has finally made his professional pitching debut. Assigned to the Giants Single-A affiliate in San Jose, the lefty has made three starts, allowing three runs on seven hits and zero walks in 5.1 innings pitched with 10 strikeouts. He's also hit a double in a pair of starts at designated hitter.

The fact that Crawford is already racking up strikeouts without issuing walks is an extremely promising sign. His fastball has also returned to its previous velocity, sitting between 95-97 mph, and reaching 98 mph.

From the outside looking in, Crawford's past two years have been a whirlwind. Since the summer of 2021, he emerged as one of the top prospects in his draft class before suffering a major injury. He decided to transfer from UCONN to SEC baseball powerhouse Tennessee but was drafted by the Giants before he could star in Knoxville. Yet, the Lansdale, Pennsylvania native told Giants Baseball Insider in a phone conversation last week that he never felt overwhelmed by the circumstances.

"It was really smooth sailing because, at the end of the day, I have the right people in my corner," Crawford said. "I know that I have the resources necessary to make the greatest decision for myself and those around me. No matter what, I believe everything happens for a reason, so that’s where the peace of mind comes from because, like TJ, when I felt that in my arm, what can I possibly do about it? For me, it's what can I do to make sure to be the best version of myself? Everything was a positive. If I could go back and change anything, I would keep everything exactly the same."

Crawford's positive outlook is a defining characteristic of his personality. And perhaps his unusual path to pro ball has made it easier to bounce back from such a significant hurdle.

While baseball was always Crawford's favorite sport, he focused on swimming because it "was always the cheaper route" to a college scholarship. For Crawford, whose mother was a single parent working as a physical education teacher, the economic barriers to baseball almost prevented him from playing at the collegiate level.

It was only after several people recognized Crawford's potential on the diamond in high school that things began to shift. The summer heading into his senior year, his family managed to get enough money for travel ball. He capitalized on the opportunity, landing a scholarship at UCONN.

When you talk to people around the industry about Crawford, including those in the Giants organization, the first thing people mention isn't his fastball that has reached 101 mph or his 70-grade power potential. Instead, it's Crawford's character and makeup.

"I got to know Reggie a little bit this offseason as a person," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said during a pregame media availability last week. "I was really impressed with the human being that he is and the human being that he wants to be."

Since arriving in San Jose in late May, Crawford has quickly become an integral member of the clubhouse. The Single-A coaching staff has noticed his impressive presence. San Jose Giants pitching coach Dan Runzler and hitting coach Travis Ishikawa both spoke with Giants Baseball Insider about Crawford and his development over the weekend.

"He’s as advertised," Runzler said.

"The guy is an absolute pleasure to work with," Ishikawa reiterated. "He's a high-character guy who just molds right in and works hard. Just his presence and readiness has stood out."

On the mound, Crawford said his top priority is cleaning up some fundamentals, like his pickoff move and covering the right spots on balls in play. Crawford only pitched eight innings during his entire college career. And while he racked up some innings in high school and various summer leagues, Crawford consistently dominated. He has not pitched with runners on base, particularly in scoring position, very often.

In terms of his pitch arsenal, Crawford is working on improving his changeup. Historically, solely reliant on his fastball and slider, a third offering would go a long way toward helping him remain a starting pitcher. Crawford never felt comfortable throwing a changeup prior to UCL surgery. Since his return, however, he has discovered a newfound feel for the pitch. He credits mental visualization during his arduous rehab process.

"Ever since TJ, I don’t know why, but after TJ, I had the feel for it," Crawford said. "When I couldn't pitch, I started going through visualizations, going through the mental reps, thinking about how I wanted it to feel and kinda programmed it that way."

Crawford was a first-round prospect because of his potential on the mound. That said, Crawford would have likely been a Day 2 draft pick solely as a first baseman. He has more power than any of his teammates at San Jose. However, even in college, he struggled with strikeouts. Now returning from a prolonged layoff, Crawford is hoping to make more consistent contact as he finds a rhythm at the plate.

"Right now, the biggest thing is just trying to get him comfortable in his routine and just seeing live pitching," said Ishikawa. "The timing’s going to be a little off. The swing is not going to be quite right… For now, the focus is just getting him at-bats."

So what is Reggie Crawford's potential? It's hard for anyone to give a specific answer about a prospect so early in their development, but everyone agrees it's high. There is no other player in the organization with his combination of elite tools. There may only be one player in professional baseball who has a more impressive combination of athleticism, arm strength, and power than Crawford, and that's Shohei Ohtani.

"I haven’t seen a guy that kind of big and strong," Runzler said. "I’ve been watching his batting practice. It’s just an immense amount of talent on both sides."

When asked if Crawford reminded him of anyone, the only name Ishikawa could think of was former Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, who he played with in 2010 and 2014.

"If you want to look at him like Bum a little bit," Ishikawa remarked. "The hitting was more of a hobby for Bum, and we’re going to give Reggie more designed at-bats. But they are kind of a similar thing, big strong kids who can really get into one and are really tough competitors."

To paraphrase Mark Twain, players do not repeat themselves, but they often rhyme. Reggie Crawford, though, is a prospect whose sound is far more unique than most. Recent two-way prospects like Brendan McKay lack Crawford's explosive tools, but players like Bumgarner never tried to play both ways at the professional level.

There are an infinite number of ways for Crawford's career to progress as a pitcher, hitter, or as a two-way player. Even Crawford himself struggled to articulate what he thought he could be, "I don’t even know what I can achieve on both ends, which is really exciting for me."

And that unknown is exactly why the Giants are so eager to see Reggie Crawford back on a baseball field. That unknown is why he's so eager to be playing again. And that unknown is exactly why SF Giants fans have every reason to closely track his progress with the San Jose Giants this season.