Phillies minors notes: Justin Crawford's drive, Otto Kemp's dream, Moisés Chace's velo drop

New York Times

10-05-2025

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Around the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, they talk about Justin Crawford's sometimes ugly, sometimes unconventional, sometimes annoying swings as a source of pride. Crawford, 21, is the youngest player on the team. He is one of the youngest in the entire International League. He probably should not be here. He probably should not be hitting .318/.386/.411 in his first 145 plate appearances at Triple A.
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This is what they love about Crawford: He competes. And, while that might sound like a derogatory term to compliment someone without enough talent, teammates and coaches insist otherwise.
Crawford has fouled off more pitches (146) than any player in Triple A. He has innate bat-to-ball skills. This is part of his game; he'll often have a 10-pitch at-bat that drives the opposing pitcher mad. It might result in a groundout. Maybe he'll shoot the ball down the left-field line. He's walking at a career-best rate.
It's not always pretty. So far, it's working for Crawford, even against Triple-A pitching.
'I'm honestly still kind of making adjustments,' Crawford said. 'I mean, it's not really easy. But just trusting my routine, my approach and just doing everything that I've done to get here has just helped me stay even-keeled.'
The Phillies nudged Crawford to Triple A because they thought he could handle it, but also because they believed some adversity could help his development. Rival evaluators are split on Crawford because of a swing tailored to produce groundballs; his ground-ball rate remains one of the highest in the minors.
But it's hard to convince a player to make adjustments when he's having success. So the Phillies have let it ride.
'He's one of the most competitive kids we have,' Phillies farm director Luke Murton said. 'And one of the most talented kids we have. He is unorthodox. And there's been unorthodox guys in the big leagues. And all he does is keep having success. Is somebody ready for a level, or are they not ready? Nobody really knows until they get there and they do it. I think the biggest thing with him, I felt like as a group, we really trusted the person. We trusted that if it doesn't go how he wants it to go, that he can handle it mentally. And if it does go great, then it's icing on the cake.
'He's done tremendous. He continues to make adjustments. He gets better and better every day, every year. So we're excited about where he's at right now.'
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Few farmhands generated as much buzz in the season's first six weeks as 25-year-old infielder Otto Kemp, an undrafted free agent from tiny Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) University, who is hitting .331/.423/.662 at Triple A. Kemp ranks near the top of the International League in every offensive category.
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'He's gritty,' IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras said. 'He asks the right questions. He's trying to get better every single day. He's coming to me asking for early work. He's doing all the little things that a professional is supposed to do.'
Evaluators project Kemp as an offensive-first bench player. His current path to the Phillies is only as a replacement if someone in the majors suffers an injury. Kemp is limited defensively; his bat is what will carry him. Kemp has feasted on fastballs at Triple A. He is hitting .340 with an .800 slugging percentage against them. The average fastball velocity he's seen is 92.2 mph, according to Statcast data. The average major-league fastball is 94 mph.
That he's this close to the majors is remarkable. The last undrafted hitter signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent to reach the majors with them was infielder Jeff Grotewold, who had 75 plate appearances in 1992. (This does not count foreign players, who are not eligible to be drafted and are signed as amateur free agents.) Other undrafted amateurs have played in the majors with the Phillies — Chris Coste, originally signed by Pittsburgh, is one. Daniel Nava, Rod Barajas and Ramón Martínez — all signed by other organizations — are the only other draft-eligible but undrafted Phillies hitters in the last 30 years.
The most successful undrafted hitters across MLB in the last 20 years are Nava, TJ Friedl, Mike Brosseau, Mike Ford and Chris Colabello.
So it's not unprecedented. But it is rare for all 30 clubs to miss on a draft-eligible player.
'Going undrafted, it was kind of a stab to the heart, honestly,' Kemp said. 'I didn't really know exactly what pro ball looked like after that. I didn't really have anybody I knew that went into pro ball. So I didn't know what that road was going to look like, which is kind of the beauty of it. Life can take you a lot of different ways that you don't necessarily think or dream of. So it's been a cool process to see. Look back four years ago when my name didn't get called and seeing where I'm at, that's the beauty of dreaming.'
Kemp is expected to play only third base and left field. He's started 13 games on the right side of the infield this season and only three in left field.
By the time Moisés Chace struck out 13 batters and permitted one hit in a stellar six-inning outing last Aug. 31 at Double-A Reading, the Phillies had a decent idea they'd add the righty to their 40-man roster. He came to them last summer in the Gregory Soto trade with the Baltimore Orioles. He threw hard. His fastball graded well on stuff metrics. He was a rising prospect who cracked some industry Top 100 lists.
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He has not resembled that pitcher in 2025.
Chace, 21, is back at Reading. He has a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings with 17 strikeouts and 11 walks. But his fastball velocity has had a sharp decline. Chace pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings on Wednesday at Binghamton, but his fastball sat 90.7 mph, according to another club's data. He topped out at 92.7 mph.
Last season, Chace's fastball averaged 94.4 mph. He touched 97 mph at times. His fastball has averaged at 90.8 mph this season.
The Phillies were concerned when Chace reported to his first big-league spring training not in the best pitching shape. It's unclear how much he threw in the offseason, or if he threw at all from a mound while at home in Venezuela. The organization does not believe he is hurt, so it has continued to pitch him.
'In all honesty, we're searching for answers,' Murton said. 'I don't have answers.'
Murton was in Binghamton this week and saw Chace pitch. The Phillies were willing to be patient and had hoped the velocity would return by now.
It hasn't. Chace represents one of the farm system's bigger disappointments thus far; had he come to camp looking like the pitcher from last summer, he might have reached the majors by now as a reliever.
'When you don't have the answer and he's not hurt, you keep throwing him,' Murton said. 'The silver lining is, when the velocity comes back, he's learning how to pitch with lesser velocity. Which will help him in the long run. That part I'm excited about. But I wish I had a better answer.'
• The Phillies were excited to receive righty Eiberson Castellano back from the Minnesota Twins, who had selected him in the Rule 5 draft but did not keep him on their big-league roster. Castellano returned to Double-A Reading and made a strong impression in April, striking out 16 batters and walking two in 15 innings. The Phillies were prepared to make Castellano a full-time reliever. But he went on the injured list last week with a strained right shoulder. The injury is not considered serious, but it'll cost him a few weeks.
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• It's been a struggle for spring standout Gabriel Rincones Jr., who is batting .230/.282/.377 at Triple A. He's produced against righties, but is 3-for-31 with no extra-base hits and seven strikeouts against lefty pitchers. Rincones might have the best raw power in the system; he took a prodigious batting practice Thursday afternoon. He projects as the strong side of a platoon in the majors.
• No one needed a strong April like Mick Abel did. He slogged through 108 2/3 innings of a 6.46 ERA in 2024 and tumbled down the prospect rankings. But, in 2025, the 2020 first-round pick has 42 strikeouts and 17 walks in 39 1/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been better.
Rival evaluators have seen a more composed pitcher who is competing.
'I see a different presence on the mound,' Contreras said of Abel, who turns 24 in August. 'I see the little boy in him kind of leaving. I see him turning into the man that he's naturally going to turn into. You can just hear it in his voice when you're having conversations with him. That's what's exciting.
'I think he knows what he can do. He's starting to get deep in ball games, hold his velocity, throw his breaking balls for strikes. There are so many positives to what his season looks like so far. Now it's just stay healthy, stay on track, do what you've been doing.'
• The pitcher to watch at High-A Jersey Shore is Alex McFarlane, who has not allowed an earned run in his past three starts (12 1/3 innings) with 15 strikeouts and four walks. McFarlane, who turns 24 in June, missed all of 2024 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. His fastball is sitting 95 mph in 2025. He's incorporated a splitter into his arsenal. Rival evaluators see him as a future reliever.
• Numerous teams asked the Phillies about Aroon Escobar in trade talks last summer despite Escobar being sidelined for much of the season by shin splints. He's played only 49 games stateside. But Escobar hits the ball hard and is considered one of the organization's best prospects. He shows an advanced approach at the plate.
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Escobar is a stocky 20-year-old second baseman. He's batted .309/.427/.526 at Low-A Clearwater this season.
'He's been tremendous,' Murton said. 'He's done just everything. Defensively, he's gotten better. Offensively, he continues to improve. We're excited about what he's doing.'
(Top photo of Justin Crawford: Jonathan Tenca / Cal Sport Media / Associated Press)