Brewers: 3 Prospects Who Could Make an Impact in 2021 Season

2) LHP Leo Crawford

Crawford was the player to be named later in the trade that sent Corey Knebel to the Los Angels Dodgers this off-season.

Crawford had been able to advance up the chain each season in the Dodgers organization due to his high baseball IQ and funky arm action delivery/deception. He has mostly been used as a starting pitcher throughout his minor league professional career but he does have experience working out of the bullpen as well.

Being primarily a starting pitcher, Crawford has a great pitch mix but his stuff is by no means overpowering from a velocity standpoint (generally 88-90 MPH fastball). However, he still finds ways to strike batters out on a rather consistent basis and limits free passes to opposing hitters.

Although Crawford never found his way onto the stacked Dodgers top 30 prospect rankings, he had been working his way up the minor league system each season. His raw statistics have never looked phenomenal but he has consistently posted good numbers. His last minor league season was at the Double-A level in which he made five starts to the tune of 30 innings pitched and a 2.37 ERA.

Most recently in 2021, Crawford has been seen pitching in the Nicaraguan Winter League. During the regular season portion of the schedule Crawford posted a 3.41 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched.  The playoffs however have not been as kind to Crawford, despite his team winning the Winter League Championship.

Although Crawford is not a member of the Brewers current 40 man roster, he possesses all the qualities of a reliever that Craig Counsell likes to have in his tool box of: soft throwing, left handed, and awkward delivery. While fans immediately think his player comp should be Brent Suter, which is fair, let’s remember that Alex Claudio departed from the team and Crawford could potentially fit the mold of his replacement.