J.P. Crawford

BIOGRAPHY

J.P. Crawford was born on January 11, 1995 in Long Beach, California. He is a shortstop in the MLB.

He graduated from Lakewood California High School in 2013, where he achieved recognition for his athletic performance and he was also considered one of the nation's best teenage baseball players. Crawford was the 16th pick overall in the 2013 MLB Draft, and began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies as an exceptional defensive infielder and was considered the organization's top prospect for much of his rise through their minor league system. He was promoted to the major league ball club, in 2017, playing at his natural position and third base. He is also the cousin of former Major League outfielder Carl Crawford.

Crawford began his pro career with the Gulf Coast League Phillies. He was selected as a GCL All-Star, and led the league in AVG (.345) and OBP (.443) and ranked 5th in SLG % (.465). He was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week, August 5-11. Crawford was promoted to Lakewood on August 18. Following the season, he was named the 3rd-best prospect in the Phillies minor league system by Baseball America, and also participated in FIL. In 2014, he was the Paul Owens Award winner as the best player in the Phillies minor league system, and also named Phillies Minor League Player of the Month for May and Phillies Minor League Player of the Week, April 28-May 4. Crawford led the Phillies minor league system in walks (65). He began the season with Lakewood, and was named a South Atlantic League midseason All-Star. He was promoted to Clearwater on June 18. Crawford also played for Team USA in the All-Star Futures Game on July 13 at Target Field. He batted for .291 over his final 50 games for Clearwater. Following the season, he was named the top prospect in the Phillies minor league system by Baseball America, and also participated in Florida Instructional League.

He began the 2015 season with Clearwater. He was promoted to Reading on May 30 and was the youngest player in the Eastern League at the time of his promotion. He also ws named an EL midseason All-Star. He appeared in his 2nd consecutive All-Star Futures Game where he went 1-for-3, R, RBI for Team USA on July 12 at Great American Ball Park. Crawford ranked 2nd in the EL in triples (7) and ranked 8th in walks (49). He hit .379, HR, 3 RBI, 6 R with a league-best .486 OBP in 8 postseason games. Following the season, he was named the top prospect in the Phillies minor league system by Baseball America for the 2nd straight year,and played for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League. By 2016, he was a non-roster invitee to Phillies spring training. He began the season with Reading wher he hit safely in 9 of his first 10 games, posting a .398 OBP in 36 games before being promoted to Lehigh Valley on June 2. Crawford did not commit an error through his first 29 triple-A games. He batted .300, 4 2B, 3 HR, 14 RBI over 26 July games. Following the season, he was named the top prospect in the Phillies minor league system by Baseball America for the 3rd straight year and the No. 2 overall minor league prospect by MLB.com.

He began the 2017 season with Lehigh Valley.He led the International League in walks (79), 3rd in triples (6) and 4th in runs (75). He set professional highs in HR (15), RBI (63), XBH (41), walks, runs and games (127). From June 22 through the end of the minor league season, Crawford batted .283, 15 2B, 5 3B, 13 HR, 37 RBI, 43 BB, .387 OBP, .531 SLG %, .918 OPS in 69 games. He was named Phillies Minor League Co-Hitter of the Month for July. He hit an inside-the-park grand slam on July 26 vs Gwinnett. He also did not commit an error in his final 29 minor league games of the season from August 6-September 4. He made 6 starts at 3rd base and 5 at 2nd base on August 20-30 while all other minor league starts in 2017 were at SS. He slugged a 2-run HR in Lehigh Valley's final game of the season, a 4-3 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, to help the club clinch the division. Crawford had his contract selected on September 5. He made 21 Major League starts:11 at 3rd base, 6 at SS and 4 at 2nd base. He made his Major League debut on September 5 at NYM, in a start at 3rd base and collected his 1st Major League hit. He had 14 walks in his final 13 games after walking twice through his first 10 Major League games. He also led all NL hitters in walks (14) from September 16 through the end of the season. Following the season, he was named the top prospect in the Phillies minor league system by Baseball America for the 4th straight year.

In the 2018 season, he appeared in 49 games with the Phillies, batting .214 with 17 runs, 6 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and 12 RBI. He made his first Opening Day roster and start on March 29 at Atlanta, where he played shortstop. He made 36 Major League starts: 27 at shortstop and 9 at 3rd base. He belted his first career home run on April 11 vs. Cincinnati, and collected a career-high 3 hits on Sept. 12 vs. Washington and a career-high 3 RBI on Sept. 17 vs. New York-NL. On the month of September, he hit .292 with 3 runs, 1 double, 2 triples, 1 home run and 4 RBI, in 15 games.  Prior to the 2019 season, Crawford was traded to the Mariners.

On June 19, 2021, Crawford hit his first career grand slam off of Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Josh Fleming. He finished the 2021 season batting .273/.338/.376 with 9 home runs and 54 RBIs. He led all shortstops with 222 putouts.

On March 22, 2022, Crawford signed a $4.85 million contract with the Mariners, avoiding salary arbitration. Then, on April 8, 2022, Crawford and the Mariners reached a 5-year $51 million contract extension.