Brewers Acquire LHP Leo Crawford To Complete Corey Knebel Trade

After a little over a week, we know who the Brewers are getting back for Corey Knebel.

It’s later. After only nine days, the player to be named later in the Corey Knebel trade has been announced. The Brewers will receive LHP prospect Leo Crawford from the Dodgers.

The Brewers announced the transaction on Twitter on Friday.

Crawford will join a staple of left-handed pitching prospects the Brewers have picked up over the last two years.

Who Is Leo Crawford?

Crawford may not be ranked as a Top 30 prospect in a deep Dodgers system, but he’s put up some pretty good numbers in the minor leagues.

The 23 year old Nicaraguan native was signed by the Dodgers back in 2014. In the 2015 DSL season, Crawford started 14 games and had a 1.41 ERA.

He’s been moving up the organizational ladder, posting a 2.42 ERA in 2016 across Rookie ball and Low-A. Then in 2017, he hit a little bit of a rough patch spending a full season in Low-A with a 4.60 ERA.

In 2018, Crawford was back on track with a 3.50 ERA across Low-A and High-A. Then in 2019, in High-A and then on to Double-A, Crawford had a 2.81 ERA.

He has remained a starting pitcher throughout the minor league system for the Dodgers and he would add to the group of left-handed starters the Brewers are developing on the farm of Ethan Small, Aaron Ashby, and Antoine Kelly.

One highlight of his skill set is a low number of walks and a high number of strikeouts. In 2019, Crawford had just a 2.0 BB/9 with a 9.95 K/9. For his career, he has just a 2.27 BB/9.

The Brewers like pitchers with excellent control, that’s why guys like Alec Bettinger and Dylan File were added to the 40 man roster. Crawford seems to possess this skill set as well and that should suit him well going forward as he looks to make the big league starting rotation one day.

As a lefty, that makes him even more valuable.

When it comes to trading Corey Knebel, this seems like a pretty good return, especially considering Knebel was minutes away from being non-tendered and lost for nothing. Crawford is a left handed starting pitching prospect that has good command and has shown good results in the minors.

Crawford is likely to start 2021 in Double-A Biloxi, but he could see time in Triple-A Nashville before the season is up. He could be in Milwaukee fairly soon.

Crawford has been a two-time minor league All-Star with the Dodgers and has been named Pitcher of the Week four times.