Brian Crawford, Author at Baseball Essential

Blue Jays Prospect Clinton Hollon Impressive After Tommy John Surgery

Aug 27, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

There’s a lot of excitement buzzing around the Toronto Blue Jays organization right now as the club went all in at the trade deadline and built a playoff-caliber ball club at the major league level. While fans ...

Blue Jays’ Prospect Rowdy Tellez Impressive in First Full Season

Brian Crawford

Aug 19, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

First base isn’t generally considered a premium prospect position. This concept is largely based on the number of outfielders and third basemen that are able to convert to first at the major league level for nu...

Blue Jays Prospect Jose Fernandez Preparing for Future Success

Brian Crawford

Aug 5, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

Sleeper prospects emerge in every organization throughout the minor league season. These are guys that were generally discovered later than most, but despite their late discovery these guys refuse to become com...

Blue Jays Prospect Tim Mayza Improving In Lansing

Brian Crawford

Jul 13, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

The goal of the minor leagues is to develop a player's game for future success at higher levels. By doing this a player continues to show their value to their organization without becoming complacent. While thi...

Blue Jays’ Prospect Tim Locastro Getting Acclimated to Second Base

Brian Crawford

Jun 22, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

A common transition you see in professional baseball is teams converting young shortstops into a second baseman. With many youth coaches developing their players with higher ceilings at shortstop due to the dem...

Blue Jays’ Prospect Chris Carlson is a Complete Outfielder

Brian Crawford

May 21, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

After finding success drafting a Division II player in Kevin Pillar four years ago, Alex Anthopoulos's staff used the same approach in the later rounds of the 2014 MLB draft. While many organizations are kickin...

Top Prospect Derek Hill Working Hard to be the Tigers Center Fielder of the Future

Brian Crawford

May 8, 2015

Detroit Tigers, Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball

Focused on developing a center fielder of the future, the Detroit Tigers entered the 2014 draft with that position at the top of their board. Making sure not to waste time at picking a player that could one day...

Prospect Justin Shafer Rising through the Blue Jays’ System

Brian Crawford

May 4, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

Continuing their tradition of developing talented young pitchers within their minor league system, the Toronto Blue Jays organization has seen some promising arms coming through their ranks in recent years and ...

Prospect Danny Jansen Working Hard to Be Blue Jays’ Catcher of the Future

Brian Crawford

May 2, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays locked up their catching position for five seasons by signing Russell Martin last November. While it feels good knowing the organization filled a position of need on their big league roster, fans ...

San Diego Padres’ Michael Gettys Working Hard to Achieve his Dream

Brian Crawford

Apr 24, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, San Diego Padres

Baseball fans really look forward to the month of April. Not just because the weather is starting to get better, but more for the opportunity to see their favorite players and teams take the field to begin a si...

Author Brian Crawford