After being selected with the 30th overall selection in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants, former UConn two-way phenom Reggie Crawford has decided that his future on the baseball diamond lies on the pitching mound.
“We’re going to try to figure out how we’re going to plan out [batting practice] a couple of times a week, but the primary focus is pitching,” Crawford told MLB.com. “I decided on that a few weeks ago, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
As the No. 8 prospect in San Francisco’s minor league system according to MLB Pipeline, the Giants allowed Crawford the opportunity to both hit and pitch while he developed in the Minors. The 23-year-old tried to get more hitting reps toward the end of the year last season in the Arizona Fall League, but he only managed to go 8-for-58 (.138) with two home runs and 30 strikeouts over 17 games.
“That gave me feedback of how far behind I was,” Crawford said. “Because it was probably two years-plus removed from the last time I was hitting consistently.”
After returning from Tommy John surgery last season, Crawford compiled a 2.84 ERA with 32 strikeouts over 19 innings in 13 starts between Single-A San Jose and High-A Eugene in 2023. The Giants are being cautious with their 2022 first- rounder, as the team capped each outing at two innings and limited him to only 17 at-bats in between starts.
Crawford was set to make his first impression in front of the big league club after being invited to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee and added to San Francisco’s 40-man roster. However, a left lat strain has kept him off of the field as Spring Training has commenced. He could be closing in on a return over the next couple of weeks.
Crawford believes that focusing on just pitching rather than trying to hit and pitch will allow him to become more comfortable and establish a feasible routine.
“There was a point in time where I would have sacrificed time to get back to a spot in the box to where I felt comfortable,” Crawford said. “But I sat down and thought about it for a few weeks, and I was like, ‘I’m not willing to sacrifice time anymore to get to that point, rather than just see what’s right in front of me and run with that.’ That was kind of the thought process going into it.”
With the Huskies, Crawford appeared in 7 games on the mound, starting one. He managed to go 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA over 8 innings of work. He struck out 17 batters compared to just four walks. Opponents managed to hit just .194 against the 6-foot-4 lefty.
Crawford was a beast at the plate for Connecticut in his two seasons, playing as a first baseman on most of the days that he hit. He managed a .309 batting average over 64 games. He smacked 14 home runs and drove in 78 runs in those games. He also added 18 doubles and a triple, totaling 81 hits in his college career.