Justin Crawford will likely be in the mix for the Phillies early in 2026. (Cheryl Pursell)
The biggest takeaway from Tuesday's Zoom introduction of right fielder Adolis García — whom the Phillies signed to a one-year/$10 million deal — is that the club is prepared to move forward with Justin Crawford as part of their starting outfield in 2026.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that the Phillies are signing García with the thought that he will be their everyday right fielder, but that the former All-Star understands he needs to play well enough to stay in such a role.
Perhaps even more interesting is what Dombrowski said after discussing García.
"So basically, I think with the signing here, we look at him as being our right fielder, and then we're in a position where we're pretty well set out there," Dombrowski said.
"Because with Justin Crawford being able to play center or left, Brandon Marsh the other ... mixed in with a little bit of Otto Kemp out there ... [Johan] Rojas is a backup in center field too and then [Gabriel] Rincones coming, we feel very good."
There is a level of uncertainty with Crawford, because while the 21-year-old hit .334 in 112 games this past season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he did so with a 59.4% ground ball percentage. Hitting the ball on the ground like that isn't typically a recipe for success in the majors. Then again, it was fair to wonder if Crawford hitting the ball on the ground so much would begin to catch up with him at Triple-A, and it certainly didn't. Plus, once he gets on base, he's a real threat, as evidenced by his 46 stolen bases in 2025.
Justin Crawford unloads for his fifth home run of the season, a 400-foot shot at 101.9 mph to get Lehigh Valley on the board pic.twitter.com/5YMF9WoGFt
Dombrowski has also acknowledged that there's not organizational unanimity on whether Crawford will be better in center field or left field. Clearly, he would be more valuable in center field than left field, and the aforementioned Marsh is significantly better in a corner outfield spot. So the Phillies have every motivation to have Crawford open the season in center field and see how it goes.
"I think that a lot of people look at it and they're unsure, but if you're going to give Crawford an opportunity, you've got to give it to him," Dombrowski said. "And that's where we are. We're going to give him the opportunity to go out there [the outfield] and have the chance to play a lot. So basically, I think our outfield is pretty well set."
If the outfield is set, that would mean that the Phillies will not re-sign Harrison Bader. After the Phillies acquired Bader from the Minnesota Twins this past summer, he provided a spark with great outfield defense and an .824 OPS. But he declined his half of a $10 million mutual option. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported at the outset of last week's MLB Winter Meetings that Bader, 31, was seeking a three-year deal. Bader might have overplayed his hand, at least if he hoped to return to the Phillies.
It's not impossible that the Phillies could still circle back with Bader if his asking price drops. They could re-sign him, have him play center field, push Crawford to left field and trade Marsh. But it's important to consider that Bader will be looking for more than $10 million per season, while MLB Trade Rumors projects that Marsh will make $4.5 million in his penultimate year of arbitration eligibility.
One way or another, there's going to be a spotlight on Crawford early in 2026.
Manager Rob Thomson also gave his take Tuesday on what he believes the readiness of the former first-round pick is.
"There's going to be challenges, there always is," Thomson said. "And I talked to Justin last night because I knew that he was going to hear about the Adolis deal and being a young kid, I just wanted to reiterate the fact that that he's coming into camp to win a job. Signing Adolis does not affect Justin at all.
"Again, I want him to come into camp, be himself, and if he is himself, he'll make this club."
Dombrowski was then asked what he thinks makes the projected outfield that the Phillies have now better than what they finished the 2025 season with. He acknowledged that while Marsh has not yet consistently hit lefties, the combination of him and Kemp in left field could make for a pretty big platoon. Clearly, the Phillies believe García is going to have a bounce-back season. And the Phillies are hopeful, while stressing patience, in regards to Crawford.
"We think Justin is going to be a good player," Dombrowski said.
"But again, with young players, you have to give them the opportunity. And people may say, 'Well, this versus that, and he's not as good as this versus that.' But until you put him out there, you really don't know, but we think he's going to be really good. We think he's gonna be a really good player. He adds some real speed to our ball club. He makes contact. Just a lot of good things about him. So that's why we think it shapes up to be a good outfield for us."
