Future Phillies Report: J.P. Crawford finding his groove in Triple A

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Three prospects to appear on the Future Phillies Report this season have graduated to the majors: 1B Tommy Joseph on May 13, SP Zach Eflin on June 10 and RP Edubray Ramos on June 24.

All three have experienced some degree of success, with Joseph homering eight times in his first 110 plate appearances, Eflin settling in after a terrible debut, and Ramos beginning his career with three straight scoreless appearances and five strikeouts.

The Phillies have shown a willingness early in this season to promote young players who may play integral roles in their resurgence, but they haven't gone and won't go overboard. They're not going to call up Nick Williams or J.P. Crawford tomorrow and replace them in Triple A with someone like Dylan Cozens. There is a developmental track and plan for each individual prospect and GM Matt Klentak has shown he won't rush someone up just to fill a major-league spot where production has been scarce.

Still, top pitching prospect Jake Thompson acknowledged how excited he was to see Eflin get the call-up and what it might mean for him.

"For me, seeing the Phillies are actually — especially this early in the season — willing to go get a young guy that's not on the 40-man roster and give him a chance ... not that I need any more incentive to go out and work harder, but seeing that, it gives you a little extra boost," Thompson said earlier this week.

With that, let's take a look at what's going down on the farm:

SS J.P. Crawford (AAA)
You can tell Crawford has settled into the International League by looking at how many multi-hit games he's had lately. Crawford, still hitting just .229 with a .317 on-base percentage at Triple A and .246 with a .358 OBP on the season, has seven multi-hit games in his last 15. Over that span, the Phillies' top prospect has hit .311 with four extra-base hits and five walks. He's been batting second mostly, in front of Williams. 

For the first time since Crawford ended 2014 at High A Clearwater, he doesn't have more walks than strikeouts. He's walked 18 times with 25 K's with the IronPigs, giving him 208 walks and 209 strikeouts in his four-year minor-league career.

Defensively, Crawford has been strong with Lehigh Valley, committing just two errors in 330 innings and 174 defensive chances. That's been a major key to Crawford's progress through the Phils' system. They wanted more consistent defense from him this season and he's answered the call, improving his fielding percentage from .953 to .975. 

C Jorge Alfaro (AA)
While the bash brothers, Cozens and Rhys Hoskins, continue to jockey for the Eastern League lead in home runs, Alfaro keeps hitting out of the three-hole for Reading. The powerful, strong-armed catcher has a seven-game hitting streak and had a five-game extra-base hit streak snapped on Wednesday night. Alfaro has three doubles, two homers, six RBIs and 11 runs over his last six games.

The torrid start Alfaro got off to — 18 for 36 in his first eight games — has allowed his batting average to stay over .300 most of the season. He's at .300/.319/.498 through 236 plate appearances. 

He's still a force in the middle of the Fightin Phils' order, but since returning in early May from an oblique injury that cost him three weeks, Alfaro has hit .262 with just four walks and 44 strikeouts in 44 games. His power hasn't disappeared during that stretch — he has nine doubles, a triple and eight homers in 198 plate appearances — but that .262 batting average more closely aligns with his .266 career mark. Alfaro has not hit .300 or better since he was at Low A Spokane in the Rangers' system in 2011.

Numbers aside, the tools continue to pop out. Alfaro has thrown out 22 of 48 base stealers, a 46 percent success rate.

But that abysmal walk-to-strikeout ratio Alfaro has posted this season needs to improve, at least slightly. Jim Salisbury outlined on Wednesday how concerned the Phillies have become with the walks and strikeouts of their hitters and pitchers (see story).

OF Dylan Cozens (AA)
Reading is on an absolute tear. The Fightin Phils have at least seven runs in each of their last seven games, scoring a total 69 over that span. 

Cozens contributed to that attack this week, hitting a two-run homer on Wednesday after Alfaro lined a single past the shortstop in the first inning. The left-handed hitting Cozens crushed a fastball on the outside corner to the opposite field. His power is legitimate and to all fields.

Then on Thursday, Cozens homered again and drove in four runs, giving him 22 HR and 66 RBIs on the season.

But as Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan noted earlier this week, there's no reason Cozens should be in triple-digits already with 101 strikeouts in 344 plate appearances. There have been just three games in Cozens' last 37 that he didn't strike out. A lot of nights, he's whiffing multiple times. And it's not like it's just lefties overpowering him — Cozens has also punched out 72 times against righties, or once every 3.7 plate appearances.

Hitting lefties would be the next step for the 6-foot-6 Cozens, who's also 14 for 15 in steals. He's hit just .197 with six extra-base hits in 77 plate appearances vs. same-handed pitching.

1B Rhys Hoskins (AA)
Hoskins is another Phillies prospect striking out a lot, but there's been enough production to offset all the whiffs. Not to be outdone by Cozens, Hoskins also homered on both Wednesday and Thursday, tying Cozens with 22. 

What an insane month of June it was for Hoskins, who hit .351 with 13 homers, 33 RBIs and a 1.198 OPS.

In his last 10 games, Hoskins is 17 for 41 (.415) with four doubles, five homers, 13 RBIs and 15 runs scored.

He's hit righties and lefties alike, and you can't even argue that Reading's home park has been the sole reason for his surge — Hoskins has 21 extra-base hits on the road and 20 at home.

Hoskins and Cozens have homered in the same game 10 times for Reading, which is 57-23 on the season.

OF Nick Williams (AAA)
Williams returned from his latest hustle-related benching with a two-hit, two-RBI night for Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. He's hit .322 with a .907 OPS over his last 29 games as the power has returned. 

Williams is up to .288/.330/.461 on the season. He said Wednesday that he expected the production to increase as the weather heated up, and that there were times in April and early May when the conditions in the Lehigh Valley made him think, "I'm a long way from home."

Williams is another player striking out too much, with K's in 25.8 percent of his plate appearances, but he doesn't seem fazed by that growing total. "I do strike out a lot but I make contact a lot, too. It's not like I just go up there and strike out all the time," Williams said. "I work the count."

In a 1-on-1 interview earlier this week, Williams also gave reasons for his recent success vs. lefties (see story).

RHP Jake Thompson (AAA)
Thompson has a 0.76 ERA in June, having allowed three earned runs in 35⅓ innings. He's lowered his season ERA from 4.23 to 2.88. Even though Thompson is striking out just 6.3 batters per nine innings, he's dominating the opposition because he's generating so much weak contact. 

His groundball rate also continues to rise. Thompson's sinker is quite a weapon. He's induced nine double plays in his last three starts.

Read more about Thompson's hot streak here.

RHP Mark Appel (AAA)
Appel's first season in the Phillies' system ended Wednesday when he underwent elbow surgery. It was not the type of scenery change Appel wanted after falling well short of expectations with the Astros. In eight starts with the IronPigs, Appel went 3-3 with a 4.46 ERA and 1.57 WHIP.

In 291⅓ minor-league innings since being drafted first overall by Houston in 2013, Appel has posted a 5.04 ERA and allowed 30 more hits than innings pitched.

And so he'll have to wait until 2017 to get his career on track. Appel turns 25 in two weeks.

C Andrew Knapp (AAA)
Knapp was named an International League All-Star Wednesday, even if his numbers don't really jump out at you. He's hit .258/.327/.402 with 18 extra-base hits in 254 plate appearances. He's also in another mini-skid, going 4 for 22 with 10 strikeouts over his last six games.

Knapp hasn't found his footing yet at Triple A. He'll need some more developmental time offensively and defensively. And the Phillies won't rush either of their young catchers to the majors with Cameron Rupp playing so well anyway.

OF Mickey Moniak (GCL)
Moniak made his rookie ball debut for the Gulf Coast League Phillies this week, going 1 for 7 with a walk, an RBI and two strikeouts in his first two games. He should get about 50 games in at rookie ball as his pro career begins.

Also with Moniak in the GCL right now are Cornelius Randolph, last year's first-round pick who is rehabbing a shoulder injury, and Jhailyn Ortiz, the 16-year-old Dominican power prospect the Phillies signed last summer. Ortiz went 2 for 4 with two doubles, four RBIs and three runs on Thursday.

SP Nick Pivetta (AA)
Pivetta left Wednesday's start after three innings with groin tightness and Reading manager Dusty Wathan told reporters he's day to day. Pivetta hopes to avoid missing a start because he's pitched so well lately, allowing just four runs in his last 28 innings.

Pivetta, the return from the Nationals in last summer's Jonathan Papelbon trade, has been a nice surprise at Double A this season, going 7-4 with a 3.31 ERA and 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings. He struggled at that level last year, posting a 7.27 ERA in 10 starts at Double A Harrisburg and Reading.

Like Thompson, Pivetta's main pitch is his sinker.

SP Ben Lively (AAA)
The man is human. Lively suffered his first loss of the season on Monday, allowing a season-high five runs in six innings. He's 3-1 with a 3.11 ERA at Triple A and 10-1 with a 2.45 ERA overall in 16 starts this season.

Lively's command has been remarkable this season, as he's held the opposition to a .177 batting average, stifling lefties and righties alike despite rarely throwing harder than 90 mph. His strike-throwing ability could get him a look with the Phillies later this summer. Spots figure to open up for guys like Thompson and Lively if/when Jeremy Hellickson is traded and if the Phils decide to go to a six-man rotation later in the year to preserve the arms of Vince Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff and Aaron Nola.

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