For most of last summer, observers of the Phillies wondered impatiently about when they would call up outfield prospect Justin Crawford.
But Crawford stayed put in triple A.
Now, with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski signaling that Crawford has the inside track on being the opening-day center fielder, many of those same observers are nervous about the Phillies turning over the keys to a 22-year-old rookie.
It felt timely, then, to invite Crawford’s triple-A hitting coach as a guest on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. Adam Lind obliged, and discussed Crawford’s approach at the plate, which has yielded a .322 batting average in the minor leagues but also a high ground ball rate that leaves critics wondering about his ability to hit major league pitching.
Lind, 42, had a 12-year major league career, mostly with the Blue Jays, and finished with 200 home runs and a 112 OPS-plus. In 2017, his last season in the majors, he played with Bryce Harper and Trea Turner with the Nationals. Lind recalled the experience of teaming with Harper, in particular.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: What was it like in 2017 to be teammates with a 24-year-old Harper at that stage of his career?
A: It was interesting to be around. Even with José Bautista and Félix Hernández, Ryan Braun — those were superstars — but Bryce takes it to another level. So, it was wild to be in his environment. The talent immediately was like, I’ve never seen a player like that. And then I thought his personality was really interesting. He was actually very funny, a very funny character. I enjoyed being around him. It was a good experience, and it was a great year, a great way to end my career, that 2017 summer with the Washington Nationals.
Q: What did Aidan Miller look like when he got to you at [single-A] Jersey Shore two years ago, and then what did he look like when he left Lehigh Valley after spending the last week of the season with you there last year?
A: The first thing I want to compliment Aidan on is his character. It was a tough stretch [in 2024]. We had some deep talks. I learned about him; he learned about me. But the thing is, he worked hard. He gave 110% every single day, and I think more than his hitting or his approach or what I saw, what I witnessed was the type of kid he is and the character he has. And I think that will benefit him hopefully for as many years as he can play. But again, more so than his hitting, his character stands above his work ethic. They’re second to none.
Q: What do you see as the biggest growth for Miller as a hitter?
A: His physicality. He looks the part. He has the size, he has the tools. But one thing that happened to him was, my older players, when they were on deck, or when he was hitting or whatever the case might be, they were complimenting him to me. And when you have 29-, 31-year-olds noticing his talent, that means he’s got a real future in the game. Because a lot of times there’s doubt from those types of players. They don’t believe it until they see it. Day 1, he ignited our team. I know it’s triple A, the minor leagues. We had a big series against Scranton, and without him in our lineup that week, we probably wouldn’t have won that series. And he just ignited our lineup for what we needed at that moment in that part of the season.
Q: Where do you come down on the question of whether Justin Crawford hits enough balls in the air to be successful in the big leagues? And with his speed, does it even really matter?
A: Hopefully it doesn’t matter. I have to give a big shout-out to player acquisition and our amateur scouting. Between Aidan and between Justin, the type of kids they are, the type of adults they will be, their work ethic, they’re second to none. So, in terms of how [Crawford] is going to succeed in the major leagues, you can never forecast the future, but he’s got the right mentality. He’s got the right work ethic. He’s even-keeled. As far as hitting too many balls on the ground, his approach works right now. He’s super fast. His swing works to where he can hit the ball all over the yard. And when you’re left-handed, it’s a big asset to be able to hit the ball on the ground to the left side of the infield. And whenever a defender has to take one step away from first base, that usually means he’ll be safe.
Q: Where did you leave things with Gabriel Rincones Jr., in terms of what he needs to do to take that next step this season?
A: Well, I think the first two months were good for Gabriel. It forced him to learn about himself and learn about the game. We had discussions about, what have you learned so far in your career? And there weren’t really great answers yet. But through the struggle, he matured a lot. He learned a lot about his swing. He learned a lot about approach, and I think it was just the level. And I say this a lot, baseball will tell you when you need to make an adjustment, and that was his calling. Triple A was another level for him. He hadn’t played a whole lot even at double A, so it was a good challenge for him, and he responded well in the second half.
As far as left-handed pitching, I tried to give him some tools. We worked a lot, somewhat a lot, with him in [high-performance] camp [in the fall] on left-handed pitching. But again, his calling card will be to do well against right-handed pitching. He’s immensely talented. In my heart, I think he can hit left-handed pitching, but he just needed some tools and some approach adjustment and just some outside-the-box thinking. Because I had to try and do it — how to survive against left-handed pitching. And you look at Kyle Schwarber, he wasn’t very good [against lefties] at the beginning of his career. He made adjustments. And it’s not usually [about the] swing; it’s an approach thing, and hopefully he will improve. The numbers are kind of low against lefties, so it should be easy to make improvements with just simple approach adjustments.
