MLB Execs Say Phillies Have Fastest Prospect in Baseball

One of the Philadelphia Phillies' top prospects rated high in the speed category in a recent poll of MLB executives.

The Philadelphia Phillies have a bushel of top prospects that can help them in the next year. But it’s a prospect that is probably a couple of years away from helping them that has caught the eye of MLB executives.

Recently, MLB.com polled executives and asked them this question — which prospect has the most speed?

Well, as it turns out, 19% of them believe that Phillies prospect Justin Crawford has the most speed. He led all prospects.

Two other prospects got at least 10% of the vote — Baltimore’s Enrique Bradfield Jr. with 16% and St. Louis’ Victor Scott II with 14%. Also on the list were Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson, Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio, Arizona’s Jordan Lawlar and Boston’s David Hamilton.

Speed is something you would expect from Crawford. After all, he is the son of former Major Leaguer Carl Crawford and dad was known for his speed, too.

He stole 480 bases in his career and led the American League four different times in the category.

The younger Crawford is the Phillies’ No. 3 overall prospect and the No. 77 prospect in all of baseball per MLB.com.

The Phillies drafted him in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, Nev.

After a handful of games in 2022, he had a tremendous 2023 with the Phillies’ Class-A affiliate in Clearwater and High-A affiliate in Jersey Shore as he played in the MLB Futures Game in Seattle.

He slashed .332/.392/.467/.859 with three home runs and 64 RBI. He hit 22 doubles, eight triples and stole 47 bases in 87 games. He stole 10 bases in his 18 games in 2022.

MLB.com projects Crawford as being MLB-ready in 2026.