Trevor Crowe Stats & Scouting Report

AB	818
AVG	.24
OBP	.294
SLG	.322
HR	4

Full name Trevor Thornton Crowe
Born 11/17/1983 in Portland, OR
Profile Ht.: 5'10" / Wt.: 190 / Bats: S / Throws: R
School Arizona
Debut 04/09/2009
Drafted in the 1st round (14th overall) by the Cleveland Guardians in 2005 (signed for $1,695,000).

View Draft Report

Crowe has played himself into a potential first-rounder on the strength of one of the best offensive seasons in college baseball. As the catalyst atop a potent Arizona lineup, Crowe has hit .422 with 43 extra-base hits, most in the country. Even with a .766 slugging percentage, he is an ideal leadoff man with a .500 on-base percentage, above-average speed and the kind of fiery personality that can light a fire under a team. Though he can be undisciplined at times at the plate and lacks raw power, Crowe has juice in his bat and can hit almost anything thrown at him. A switch-hitter, he tends to be a slightly better hitter from the left side while displaying more power from the right. Crowe arrived at Arizona as a second baseman and may end up back there, though he has spent most of his college career in left field. Center field also would be an ideal defensive home, but some scouts say he doesn't have enough arm or speed for the position. Crowe has an interesting athletic resume. He's a former junior national racquetball champion, and his father was a professional golfer. Crowe played for Team USA last summer and earned all-tournament honors at last year's College World Series. He isn't a consensus first-rounder, but area scouts say he may be a more complete player than former Wildcats and current White Sox minor league outfielder Brian Anderson, who was the 15th pick in the 2003 draft.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Crowe was the first college outfielder drafted in 2004, but his career hasn't progressed as well as those of former Pacific-10 Conference rivals Jacoby Ellsbury and Travis Buck, who were taken after him. Selected 14th overall, Crowe hit a wall after getting promoted to Akron and being asked to try to become a second baseman in late 2006. He finally put his offensive game back together in 2008, succeeding his his third try at Double-A and making his way to Triple-A despite battling nagging injuries that affected his swing. He earned a spot on the 40-man roster with his performance. Crowe is an excellent athlete with good strike-zone discipline, but scouts question whether he'll ever hit for enough average or power to become a big league starter. While he has above-average speed, he's not the most instinctive center fielder and has a fringy arm. That makes him more of a left fielder--especially with Grady Sizemore in Cleveland--but his power is less than ideal for that position. The Indians have an uncertain left field situation, so Crowe could get an opportunity in the near future after opening 2009 in Triple-A.
Jordan Brown was considered the second-best prospect the Indians signed out of Arizona in 2005, but after Crowe endured an ill-advised move to second base at the end of 2006 and an atrocious first half last year, Brown appears to have a higher ceiling than his college teammate. Crowe's numbers were on par or better than Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury's when both were in the Carolina League in 2006, but after being promoted to Double-A and being asked to move to the infield, all facets of Crowe's game fell apart. Crowe spent the bulk of last spring in major league camp and had an outside chance of making the roster. When he was instead sent to Double-A, he lacked confidence, began swinging at bad breaking balls out of the zone and took his struggles with him to the field. Crowe eventually put things together and hit .318 over the season's final two months. He had a lot more hand movement in his approach than he ever had, but quieted things down significantly by midseason. There are a lot of questions about Crowe's ceiling. While scouts projected average power for him coming out of college, he seems likely to fall short of that now, and he won't play center field in Cleveland anytime soon. A strained chest muscle cut Crowe's Arizona Fall League stint short but isn't a long-term concern. He will likely move up to Triple-A, but a return trip to Double-A might be in order.
One of the best athletes in the system, Crowe was hitting .329 in high Class A before going down with an oblique injury. After he got healthy, he went to Double-A Akron and tried to move from the outfield to second base, where he played some in high school and college. The conversion didn't take, and the Indians gave up on it after instructional league. A switch-hitter with quick, strong hands, Crowe hits with gap power to all fields. An above-average runner, Crowe takes advantage of his speed by taking walks and stealing bases efficiently. He shows enough range and arm strength to stay in center field, though he won't push Grady Sizemore to a corner. A better hitter from the left side, Crowe needs to work on keeping his hands inside the ball when hitting righthanded. His power is probably average at best. While he's an above-average defender, he lacks first-step quickness at times and could get better jumps. Crowe profiles best as the 2005 version of Coco Crisp--a speedy, high-on-base left fielder who hits 10-15 homers annually. He'll start 2007 at Triple-A and could quickly get the call to Cleveland.
A natural athlete with good bloodlines, Crowe is a former junior national racquetball champion and his father David was a professional golfer. Crowe earned All-America honors last spring by hitting .403 and leading NCAA Division I with 15 triples (the second-most in D-I history) and 49 extra-base hits. He went 14th overall in the 2005 draft--the highest- selected University of Arizona player since Eddie Leon went ninth in 1965--and signed for $1.695 million. A switch-hitter with quick hands, Crowe is a slightly better hitter from the left side while displaying more power from the right. He has a history of hitting with wood bats with Team USA and in the Cape Cod League. He makes quick adjustments and has the ability to center the ball and use the whole field. The Indians grade his speed as above-average and believe he can handle the defensive responsibilities of center field. Crowe can be undisciplined at times at the plate and lacks raw power. Some scouts question whether he had the quickness to play center, and his arm is below average. He had trouble staying out of the training room in his pro debut, with an abdominal strain and a freak injury when he was hit in the thumb by a line drive while running the bases. Though he finished 2005 in Double-A, Crowe likely will start in high Class A this year. He's quite similar to Cleveland's current left fielder, Coco Crisp.

Minor League Top Prospects

Crowe ended the regular season in a 2-for-29 slump, only to emerge as Akron's best hitter during the playoffs. He impressed league observers with his aggressive attitude and ability to stand out in all phases of the game. One scout compared him to Lenny Dykstra, saying his tools aren't overwhelming, "but he'll do something every night to help his team win." A switch-hitter, Crowe has a good approach from both sides of the plate and more pop from the right. He works counts adequately and uses the entire field. His bat speed is above-average and he could hit 10-15 homers annually. He's an excellent fastball hitter. A slightly above-average runner, Crowe shows average range and arm strength in center field. The Indians wanted to give him a look at second base, but the move didn't take well when he played briefly there at Akron.
Like Ellsbury, Crowe was a 2005 first-round pick who was a Carolina League catalyst, drawing walks, showing advanced bunting skills and tearing up the basepaths. Crowe wore out pitching from both sides of the plate with a compact, line-drive stroke. He has slightly above-average power, and his overall athleticism might be his strongest suit. Crowe is a tick below Ellsbury in terms of speed, grading out as slightly above-average, and it's more playable on the bases than it is in center field. Crowe was blocked there by Grady Sizemore in Cleveland anyway, so the Tribe chose to move him to second base after promoting him to Double-A. He should have more than enough range at second, where his below-average arm won't be much of a liability. "I don't think he has the foot speed necessarily to be an everyday center fielder, but he's got some pop, enough to hit 15-25 homers a year in the big leagues," an NL scout said. "And that warrants some kind of move."