‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Brian Barber on the paths to the majors for Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter
The dazzling debuts of the top prospects was "fulfilling" for Barber, who has overseen the Phillies’ draft since 2020. He joined The Inquirer's baseball show to discuss his experience with the duo.
Can you guess the biggest winners from the first week of the Phillies’ season?
Their scouting and player-development departments.
Justin Crawford’s major league debut on opening day and first walk-off hit in the finale of the initial homestand book ended Andrew Painter’s dazzling debut on Tuesday night. And with that, the Phillies added two top prospects to a veteran-laden roster.
The whole thing must have made amateur scouting director Brian Barber feel like a proud uncle.
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Barber, who has overseen the Phillies’ draft since 2020, recently joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the scouting process that led the team to Painter and Crawford in the first round in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Here are a few excerpts from the conversation. Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: What’s the feeling like for you when a player who you’ve drafted when he was a teenager finally completes that long journey and gets to the big leagues?
A: In all reality, it’s very … neat, it’s very cool. But it’s fulfilling on the work that was done to acquire those players. So, whether it was Andrew in 2021 or Justin in 2022, obviously a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of effort went into the evaluation process of those guys sitting in Philadelphia. And we meet for about 10 days leading up to the draft. And obviously we had talked about those players a lot before then, but you start to get down into every deep weed that you can try to talk about on those players and all the other players that are on the board at the time. It’s a first step. But it’s a very satisfying first step to see the realization of those guys getting to the big leagues.
Q: Everyone knows that Crawford’s dad, Carl, had a long major league career. But his godfather is Junior Spivey. His cousin is JP Crawford. He’s close with Dee Gordon. His personal hitting coach is Mike Easler. He goes to work out with Eric Davis in the winter. Were you struck by the fact that he has such a well of resources that there’s probably not a question he has that he can’t get an answer to?
A: That’s one of the things that when you’re talking about [someone] whether it’s a legacy-type player, or somebody whose dad played in the big leagues — and this wasn’t just a dad that appeared in the big leagues, this was a dad that was a superstar in the big leagues for a long time. And you’re going to meet a lot of players there. And everything that I know about Carl, Carl was a very well-liked person as well, so people are going to like him and want to help him. … As people get to know [Justin] better, I think they’re going to like his type of personality as well.
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And you reach out to the people that Carl was close to, guys that did a very good job at different things, and they’re more than willing to help, whether it’s Carl or Justin himself. Whenever you have that type of upbringing and home life and a dad that came from where he did, [it] doesn’t necessarily make you a good player, but when you’re already a good player and have that in your back pocket, it’s definitely something to consider and add into the equation.
Q: Everyone says Crawford asks a lot of questions and they’re good questions. What stuck out to you just in getting to know him about his personality and his makeup that made you say we want this guy to be a Phillie?
A: I think he’s even more competitive than he comes across, because he comes [across] very laid back when you talk to him and like, everything’s cool, and, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to go.’ And then when it’s time to do work, he gets after it. And when it’s time to play the game, he wants to win, and win bad and do anything that he can to help you win. So I hope those are the type of things that come across where it’s just not [that] he’s calm, cool and collected as well, but he wants to win, and he wants to win bad.
Q: What do you recall about following Painter on the trail leading up to the 2021 draft?
A: … During that COVID year you were only allowed to send a certain amount of scouts to the games. I think it was three max. And I took the opportunity to go every time that I could. So I was there almost every time he pitched in that summer, early fall during that time. So that’s when I had the opportunity to see him five times in the summer.
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But obviously the first thing that jumps out to you on Andy is just the size, but then the ease of how we did everything as well, where it was … [6-foot-7], 6-8, but an athlete in the body as well that was under control in his delivery. It wasn’t just long limbs flying everywhere, but it was a guy that knew what he was doing in his delivery. And then obviously with the stuff, [it] jumps out as well when you’re seeing that summer he would have been 17, and you’re seeing a 97 mph fastball with real feel, with what he was trying to do with it. Those are the things that just jump out immediately.
Q: How much more ready do you think Painter is for this now compared to three years ago before the injury?
A: That’s a hard question to answer. Obviously Andy was on a rocket ship path what looked like super stardom as a 19-year-old. He goes to the 2021 draft, 2022 season is just a meteoric rise throughout the organization, and looks fantastic at every step along the way, doing everything that he needs to. It’s just, pitching is hard and staying healthy is not easy. And we have a rotation that shows that as well. Whether that’s what Zack Wheeler has been through in his career, Jesús Luzardo, what he’s been [through], it just happens to pitchers.
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As a father of a now 23-year-old, I know 23-year-olds are a little bit more mature, hopefully a little bit smarter than they were at 19. And I do think what he went through last year is going to help him long-term. So [while] he was physically ready to come back, it had been two full years since he had pitched, never above whatever the half a dozen games at the double-A level. And it’s not that easy. Baseball is a very humbling game for anybody, even as talented as somebody like Andy is, and to go through a triple-A season, coming back from surgery, not having pitched two years, and going through some ups and downs, I think it’s going to do nothing but help him in the long-term.