Justin Crawford hopes to make a big leap in Year 2, just like his friend Chandler Simpson

LAS VEGAS — Hours before a game in late September, Justin Crawford walked across the outfield and slapped hands with Chandler Simpson.

“That’s my guy,” Crawford said this week.

Friends for years, admirers for even longer, they were drafted 53 picks apart in 2022 — Crawford by the Phillies in the first round, Simpson by the Tampa Bay Rays in the second. They played against each other in the minor leagues and comprised two-thirds of Team USA’s outfield at a tournament in Mexico and Japan in November 2024.

And because they have similar skill sets — left-handed hitters with elite speed and an extreme tendency to hit the ball on the ground — they have elicited frequent comparisons from scouts and talent evaluators.

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But as they converged in Citizens Bank Park that day, it was impossible not to wonder if Crawford, who will be 23 in January, looked at Simpson, 25, and saw the player that the Phillies need him to become.

“Yeah, definitely,” Crawford said on The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast while the general managers’ meetings were being held in Las Vegas, his hometown. “I love watching Chan play. ... I also know, too, the jump he made from his first year into his second year. And that’s definitely something that I’ve thought about, too, to be like, OK, I could definitely improve that way.”

It’s almost an imperative for an expensive, aging Phillies roster.

Four years since being dubbed the “Daycare,” Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh each had one 3-WAR season and Bryson Stott produced three, according to Fangraphs’ calculation of wins above replacement. The next youth wave must be more like a tsunami. Dave Dombrowski declared this week that he believes top prospect Aidan Miller, when healthy, is “as good as” award-winning rookies (read: Delco’s Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers), and Crawford must progress as Simpson did this year.

As a rookie, Crawford was a mixed bag. The 22-year-old center fielder debuted on opening day and stayed on the roster all season. He batted .279 over the season’s final two months and .264 overall, and was the fourth Phillies rookie since 2006 with 100 hits.

But he had only a .309 on-base percentage, leaving him unable to optimize his speed. After stealing 40 bases in three consecutive minor-league seasons, he swiped 17 in only 21 attempts.

Defensively, Crawford didn’t grade well, based on both the metrics and the eye test. And because he struggled against left-handed pitching, he slipped into a platoon in center field with righty-hitting Derek Hill.

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As always, though, context is important. Crawford got 465 plate appearances, more than only four players who have not yet turned 23. Among them: McGonigle and Sal Stewart, who were crowned Rookie of the Year this week, and Jackson Chourio, who just won the World Series.

So, when Dombrowski and Don Mattingly summed up Crawford’s rookie year in separate news conferences by using the same expression — “He kept his head above water” — it’s easy to understand what they meant.

But the Phillies will hold Crawford to a higher standard next season.

Just like the Rays did this year with Simpson.

Before he batted third in the World Series and led the Rays with eight hits in the five games against the Brewers, Simpson got demoted to triple A.

Like Crawford, Simpson was a polarizing prospect. He received equal praise for putting his bat on the ball at a high rate and rarely striking out and criticism for making soft contact and often hitting the ball on the ground.

Given his blazing speed, the Rays were mostly content to let Simpson do his thing. But six weeks after making his major league debut in April 2025, he was unable to outrun a .315 on-base percentage and defensive shortcomings, neither of which can be tolerated from a player who doesn’t slug (one homer in 2,050 at-bats between the majors and minors).

“The raw speed is undeniable, but there was uncertainty about kind of its application,” Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said this week. “But he’s someone we always believed in because we knew he takes constructive criticism as well as anyone. The desire to be great, the willingness to work is second to none.”

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Simpson returned to triple A for three weeks in 2025 before rejoining the Rays. They also moved him to left field. And he went from minus-9 defensive runs saved last season to plus-8, a 17-run upturn from 2025 to 2026 that made him a Gold Glove finalist.

“It was impressive to watch how much he improved all the way into the playoffs, crashing into the walls and putting his body on the line,” said Neander, who credited Simpson’s work with outfield coach Corey Dickerson. “But the jumps, the reads, the technique, the skill, the nuance of playing the position improved by leaps and bounds.

“And if he continues to stay on it the way he has, he’s going to win a Gold Glove, and that’s a tremendous amount of progress compared to where he was.”

The Phillies believe Crawford is equally coachable. They extol his work habits and his curiosity to learn. He sought help last winter from three-time former Gold Glove outfielder Eric Davis and said Phillies outfield coach Paco Figueroa “stayed on me all year long” about jumps, reads, and pre-pitch preparation. Crawford said he also picked Hill’s brain about ways to get better.

And there’s room for improvement. Crawford tied for second-worst among center fielders with minus-8 defensive runs saved, re-raising a debate within the organization about whether he’s better suited for left field.

The Phillies are planning to keep Crawford in center ... for now. As Mattingly put it: “We’ve seen him have periods of time in center field that were really good, other times that weren’t as good.”

“From my first month in the big leagues until the last month — I don’t know what the numbers would say, or anything — I know the way I felt that I definitely felt like I improved out there and got more comfortable and felt really confident,” Crawford said.

Crawford stole 145 bases in 325 minor-league games in part because he reached at a .385 clip. But the Phillies’ player-development staff also emboldened him.

“In the minor leagues,” Crawford said, “I had the green light all the time.”

It wasn’t the same in the majors.

Never mind that Crawford got on base at a much lower rate. He often batted ninth, and when he did reach ahead of the top of the order, the Phillies tended to apply the brakes. He had 590 chances to steal, according to Statcast, and only a 2.9% attempt rate.

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Looking back, Mattingly conceded the Phillies “played a little cautious.” (Stott’s attempted-steal rate was 2.4%; Trea Turner’s was only 1.6%.) Mattingly pledged to utilize the team’s speed more often next season. He views Crawford as a “30- to 40-stolen-base guy.”

“I’m always ready to steal, and I’m always ready to run,” Crawford said. “I steal bases whenever I get the green light, and I don’t steal bases whenever I get the red light. Definitely if you ask me, though, I’m always trying to steal bases and looking to get into scoring position and cause havoc. I mean, that’s my game. That’s what I do best.”

But there are other ways to impact a game with speed. Simpson led the American League with 46 steals, but also paced the majors with 42 infield hits and 14 bunt singles, up from 18 infield hits and five bunt singles in his rookie season.

And amid the launch-angle craze that has permeated batting cages in the last decade, the Rays are content to let Simpson do what makes him special.

“It is a unique skill set, and that doesn’t leave you many places to look for guidance and feedback to help yourself improve,” Neander said. “There aren’t many that can relate to him, right? So, it’s making sure that we continue to demonstrate belief that who he is, his strengths, his profile, have a place in Major League Baseball, not just to have an opportunity but to thrive.

“A lot of it is being there to support him and staying out of his way because he’s got a pretty good road map for what he needs to do.”

Crawford knows he didn’t travel that road often enough.

Mattingly has told him to focus on controlling the strike zone and reducing the swings and misses, especially at non-strikes, a message that Crawford expects new hitting coach Pete Fatse will reinforce when they get together next week in Vegas.

But Crawford also legged out only 25 infield hits and three bunt singles in just 12 attempts. It might have been the difference between his .264 average and Simpson’s .306 mark.

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“I could definitely improve in that way,” Crawford said. “Obviously we have similar games, just trying to cause havoc. That’s something I like a lot and really admire is how he’s able to just go out there and be himself and play his game and not [listen to] whatever anyone says. He’s like, ‘No, I’m doing what I do, and this is how I help the team win.’ And it helps [the Rays] win, as we saw.

“Yeah, I’ve always loved watching him play. I definitely try to take some things, pick some things up from him, and try to use that in my game as well.”

Simpson’s second-year jump turned him into a core player for the pennant-winning Rays. The Phillies look at Crawford’s skills and see similar potential.

“I think there’s an upside with Justin, and where he goes is — I shouldn’t say totally dependent upon him — it’s dependent upon us to get it out of him and to help him go there,” Mattingly said. “It’ll be interesting to where it goes with him, and I think the sky is the limit with Justin.”

Watch the latest episode

In discussing Justin Crawford’s first year in the majors, Phillies manager Don Mattingly and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski used the same expression: “He kept his head above water.” Moving forward, they will hold the 22-year-old center fielder to a higher standard. Crawford sat down with Phillies Extra to talk about his goals for 2027, including stealing more bases, improving his defense, and more. Watch here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Previous episodes: Jim Duquette | Garrett Stubbs | Tim Mayza | Aidan Miller | Scott Franzke | Larry Andersen | Matt Klentak | Jeff Francoeur | Luke Murton | Mike Hazen | Tony Gwynn Jr.