Brewers obtain pitcher from Dodgers
The Milwaukee Brewers completed their recent trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers for reliever Corey Knebel on Friday, acquiring minor-league lefthander Leo Crawford, who has a similar profile to Brent Suter, an overachiever who has made his mark at the bigleague level.
Crawford, 23, is not considered one of the top prospects in the Dodgers’ system, mainly because he doesn’t throw hard (88-90 mph with his fastball). But he uses deception and an unusual delivery that he varies to his advantage, much like Suter, with a great changeup
and pickoff move.
Of any similarity to Suter, Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said, “You know, he’s left-handed, he throws in the high 80s (mph), so you’re going to get some of that. He relies on deception and changing his offerings. So there is some of that.
“I think they use their deception a little bit differently. Brent, obviously, working really fast and uses that to his advantage. Leo, when we watch him, with his actual pitching mechanics and motion, he will vary timing in order to disrupt the hitters a little bit. They are two left-handed pitchers who have had success by not having overpowering fastballs.”
Crawford, who signed with the Dodgers out of Nicaragua in 2014 at age 17, took a big step forward in the second half of the 2018 season at high Class A
Rancho Cucamonga, going 8-0 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 games, including 11 starts.
He had another strong year in 2019 while splitting time with the Quakes and Class AA Tulsa, going 7-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 25 games (21 starts), with 134 strikeouts in 12 1 2⁄3 innings and only 27 walks, with a 1.285 WHIP.
“I think he’s just more confident in what he’s done and he has learned to use his timing mechanisms probably to little bit of a greater effect,” Stearns said of Crawford’s improvement. “His changeup has improved, which is probably his best off-speed offering. That has helped him against particularly opposite-handed hitters.
“In terms of 2020 (when minor leagues were shut down by the pandemic), I believe, he spent the majority of it down in Nicaragua. That is where he is right now. He’s pitching in winter ball. I believe that’s where he has spent the majority of the last six months or so.
“He’s probably a guy who was going to get his first sustained look at Class AAA over the course of the (2020) season. So, it probably was a frustrating year for him, that he didn’t get to pitch in affiliated ball. I think that’s true for a lot of minor-league players. I think this was a very challenging year for minor-league players who were at various points of their careers that may have been pivotal years.”
In five seasons in the minors, Crawford has gone 33-26 with a 3.22 ERA in 107 games (88 starts), with 462 strikeouts and 127 walks in 503 innings. He has allowed 480 hits, including 32 home runs, with a 1.207 WHIP.
Crawford was available in the Rule 5 draft of unprotected players Thursday but was not taken from the Dodgers, allowing the teams to complete the Knebel trade, made just before the non-tender deadline Nov. 20. The Brewers did not place Crawford on their 40-man roster, but if they choose to do so in the future he has all three of his minor-league options remaining.
As for whether he views Crawford as a starter or reliever, Stearns said, ““In a conventional baseball sense, we will see him as a starter, and he will log innings for us. We also understand that roles can change depending on the needs of any particular roster at one point, but he certainly has the ability to start.
“He’s got an arm that can log innings.”
Though baseball’s winter meetings were held virtually instead of in Dallas as originally scheduled, Stearns said conversations have increased with agents representing free-agent players as well as other clubs on the trade front. The Brewers’ main need is offensive help at the infield corners.
“I’d say discussions have certainly picked up,” Stearns said. “I think it’s healthy for the industry that that’s occurring.
“I don’t think we’re on the doorstep of anything but we have had productive discussions and we’ll continue to work both with agents and other clubs.”