Wyatt Crowell was born in Cumming GA, on October 13, 2001, in Cumming, GA. The LHP attended West Forsythe High School in Cumming. Crowell was a good High School Pitcher and made the All-State team in 2019. He was Forsythe News All County Player of the Year in 2019. He was the 6th ranked LHP and 40th overall prospect in Georgia. Nationally he was 50th ranked LHP and 454 the overall his senior year. However with the accolades, he was not drafted from high school.
Undeterred, Crowell honored his commitment to Florida State University. As a freshman, Crowell continued as a 2-way player. He was a reliever who also had 17 starts as an OF and 11 as a DH. At 6’0” 160 pounds, he was not going to be remind anyone of Shohei. Crowell made 13 relief appearances, finishing 1-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 innings, with 16 strikeouts. At the plate, Crowell hit .221 over 104 AB, with four doubles and a triple, 10 walks, 11 runs and three RBI.
Crowell decided to concentrate solely on pitching his sophomore year and began to get noticed. He became FSU’s top reliever. He appeared in 28 games earning a 6-1 record and 2.12 ERA, with 2 saves. He struck out 72 batters in 51.0 IP. Opponents hit .201 against Crowell. He was primarily a multi inning reliever. He set a career high 5.1 IP, and earned the win, in a 17 inning victory over North Carolina State. He struck out a career high seven Miami Hurricane hitters in a 4.0 inning save. Wyatt pitched at least 4.0 innings in six relief appearances.
Between March 29 and May 18, Crowell was 4.0 with a 0.64 ERA, allowing just 21 baserunners in 28.1 IP, with 39 Ks and an opponents BAA of .149. He pitched on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and won a bronze medal in a tournament in the Netherlands.
For his effort, Crowell was named All Region: 2022 (ABCA/Rawlings; 2nd Team).
Going into his junior year, Crowell was named pre-season 2nd team All American. He got his first and only start against Pitt on March 11. He made four additional relief appearances before he injured his left elbow. It was determined that he tore his UCL and had TJ surgery on April 13, 2013.
Throughout his Florida State University career, Wyatt Crowell pitched in 46 games (1 start). In 88.0 IP, Crowell allowed 33 runs (21 earned), 64 hits, 4 HR, 34 BB, 121 K, 15 HBP, 2.15 ERA, 1.114 WHIP.
Probably based on his final 7 weeks in his sophomore year and his five games in 2023, LAD selected Crowell in the 4th round (127th overall) in the 2023 draft, and signed for a below slot bonus of $516,800. He was assigned to the ACL Dodgers, but obviously did not pitch during his TJ surgery recovery.
Crowell was assigned to Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on March 24, 2024. On May 24, 2024, Crowell was sent to ACL Dodgers on a rehab assignment (13 months after surgery). He had 4 starts for ACL and was then returned to RC.
On June 21, Crowell had his 1st RC start, and completed 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing 1 hit, 1 HBP, and 4 K. He would start 6 additional RC games. He completed 17.1 IP, allowing 3 runs (all earned), 6 hits, 1.56 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 5 HBP, 11 BB, 26 K. Crowell had proven himself at low A, even in short inning increments, to be promoted to Great Lakes, August 4.
Crowell started out well but not dominant at GL On August 29, Crowell pitched 4.0 scoreless innings against the South Bend Cubs. It was the longest outing of the year. Unfortunately, he followed that with his worst outing of the season, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, 2 HBP, and 1BB, in 3.2 IP.
Crowell was necessarily going to have his innings limited. He has pitched relatively well in his 17 starts, even though never going deep into a game. Great Lakes’ season will end Sunday, and they will not be in the playoffs, so I would anticipate that Crowell’s season is also over.
Prior to the draft, Wyatt Crowell was ranked on 6 of the top 7 baseball publications, with a high of #95 with The Athletic.
- The Athletic: 95
- Baseball America: 135
- ESPN: 143
- FanGraphs: NR
- MLB Pipeline: 112
- Perfect Game: 258
- Prospects Live: 228
The most current scouting reports are those published prior to the draft. We will get more updated reports early next year. But for now, here is what was reported last July 2023.
From Baseball America:
Crowell has been a full-time reliever for Florida State since joining the program in 2021, but he’s also been one of the team’s most effective and consistent pitchers in that time. After a solid freshman campaign, Crowell was one of the best relievers in the ACC in 2022, and was off to more of the same in 2023 with a 0.87 ERA through 20.2 innings and a 38.8% strikeout rate. Crowell managed those results despite losing three full ticks of fastball velocity, and eventually missed the season with Tommy John surgery. A small and lean lefthander with a 6-foot, 169-pound frame, Crowell pitches with a simple delivery and whippy fast arm that fires to the plate from a three-quarter slot. He works off a two-pitch mix and typically pitched in the 93-94 mph range and got into the upper 90s, though in 2023 before his surgery he averaged 90 mph and touched 93. It’s more of a sinker than a riding fastball up in the zone, and Crowell uses his mid-80s slider as his go-to swing-and-miss offering. It’s a high-spin pitch in the 2,600 rpm range that he uses almost half the time, with whiff rates around 50% in the last two seasons. Crowell has thrown a slower curveball around 80 mph with more depth, which still blends into his slider shape and might simply be him manipulating the slider in the first place, as well as a mid-80s changeup—though the two are rarely used.
Here’s what MLB Pipeline had to say about him:
Crowell went from the Georgia high school ranks to the Florida State bullpen, appearing in 13 games as a freshman in 2021 then emerging as the best reliver on the Seminoles staff in 2022. After finishing with a 2.12 ERA and 12.7 K/9 rate as a sophomore, he pitched well out of Team USA’s ‘pen for the Collegiate National Team. Scouts were excited about a possible move to the rotation this spring, but he made just one start and four relief appearances before being shut down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. While Crowell isn’t the biggest guy in the world at 6-foot, he’s an excellent athlete on the mound with a very quick arm. In shorter stints as a reliever, the left-hander has been 94-98 mph with his fastball that features good riding life down in the zone and gets a lot of ground balls. Working as a starter in the fall, he was more 90-95 mph. His wipeout low-80s slider can be plus at times and missed a lot of bats. Crowell does have a changeup, though he didn’t use it much as a reliever, and one key point of emphasis for him will be to develop that third pitch while finding more consistency with the slider. He’s always been more control than command, and while he didn’t get to show an ability to be more of a complete pitcher this spring, teams could consider taking him in the top three rounds based on his track record of missing bats as a left-handed reliever.
Wyatt Crowell had an excellent pro debut. He looks to be following in the footsteps of two other college relievers who turned to starting after signing with LAD…Josh Sborz and Tony Gonsolin. Sborz returned to relief, and while Gonsolin has been an excellent starter, his next step is up in the air.
Crowell is basically a fastball/slider pitcher. He hides the ball well which gives him a good amount of swing and miss. With a number of BB and HBP, Crowell needs better control. Two pitch pitchers generally end up om the pen.
Crowell will continue to work as a starter, but we will need to wait until next year to see if he can develop a third pitch and improve his control. His floor is as a high leverage reliever. I have guessed that both Gonsolin and Sborz would have been relievers after starting in MiLB. Right on one and wrong on the other. I will stay out of the guessing game for Crowell. But IMO with his ability to hide his pitches and with a wipe out slider, I do project he reaches MLB.
FSU Scouting Report
Wyatt Crowell (@FSUBaseball) is one of the premier LHP in all of college baseball. Attacks from 3/4 slot, athletic mover, 70-grade wipeout SL with a 49% miss rate. Lively FB up to 96 with serious run/sink down in the zone. CH is developing and looked good this fall.
Day 1 Pick. pic.twitter.com/USOEJB0wt5
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) January 7, 2023
Wyatt Crowell Slider
Wyatt Crowell sliders 🤒@FSUBaseball | @PitchingNinja pic.twitter.com/FLldp4uWv8
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) February 25, 2023
RC Debut
Wyatt Crowell made it to Rancho!
Drafted last summer in the 4th Round out of Florida State but has been dealing with injury, so just got back at the end of May. 4 outings in ACL, made his debut with Rancho last night. Tail on FB, good depth & Bite to Slider, tumbling change.… pic.twitter.com/jjSi9urfzZ— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 22, 2024
Great Lakes Loons Debut
Wyatt Crowell had a great start in his High A Debut with Great Lakes. He's still working the pitch count back to full leash (probably next year fully) but making the most of the 50 or so pitches he gets at the moment when he takes the mound.
3IP 2H 1R 3Ks 1BB3rd straight… pic.twitter.com/lacKaRXvWf
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 4, 2024
More with the Loons:
Wyatt Crowell is dealing
3.00 ERA, 50 SO, 36 IP, 1.06 WHIP@wyattcrowell20 @FSUBaseball @AL0nz023 @BHolmes130 pic.twitter.com/kj7BvVUMNa
— Full Count Baseball (@FullCountGA) August 27, 2024
And yet another athlete
Heck of a defensive play by #Dodgers LHP prospect Wyatt Crowell, showing off his athleticism pic.twitter.com/S97d9dqQyC
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) August 4, 2024
Really good stuff. He’s officially on my radar now.
After that black Friday a good Saturday for our boys in blue.
Good win vs the Guardians, Teo not seriously injured and expected back Monday or Tuesday, Glasnow with a good bullpen session, Bazooka expected back today or tomorrow.
Pages with a HR vs a RHP a good sign for him and his chances to make the postseason roster.
Who will go down for Bazooka today ? My guess is Grove. Gave up two more runs .
Honeywell pitched very well, two scoreless but he probably will go down on Tuesday for Yamamoto. Or will it be Wrobleski who did a solid job pitching two scoreless frames however with 3 BBs.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Jeff, I had never heard of Crowell before this. Btw,.looking at who our starters could be next year( Yamamoto,Glasnow,Ohtani, Miller, Knack.etc) they are all right handed.
If Yamamoto returns as the SP we witnessed in Yankee Stadium on his last start before going on the IL, we’ll be OK. Glasnow’s BP was encouraging but now we wait to see how he feels today.
If Miller doesn’t pitch well in his next start he won’t be on the post season roster and instead I can foresee a post season SP staff to be:
Yamamoto
Flaherty
Buehler
Knack
Glasnow (questionable)
BP:
Phillips
Kopech
Vesia
Banda
Treinen
Hudson
Graterol
Brasier
Don’t think CK makes it back.
Hello Wyatt. Nice to meet you.
Two questions:
When can we expect his arrival at the Major League level and will his second TJ surgery be before or after that?
This team is getting it done without a stable starting pitching staff. I find that truly amazing.
Two excellent questions Badger. If Crowell has TJ before pitching for the Dodgers then his career will be over before it starts. It’s hard for me now to get too excited about any Dodger pitching prospect knowing that their time with the Dodgers could be brief at worst and intermittent at best. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s just so discouraging. Yet, here they are at the top of the division and tied with Philly for the best record in MLB.
The Dodgers may have to try to put together a 12 man starting staff with six on the MLB staff and six waiting in AAA as replacements when starter goes on the IL. AF may just draft pitchers, sign position prospects internationally or in free agency like he has done in recent years.
Maybe that’s why so many pitchers are drafted.
He said recently they are doing a deep dive into this problem. I believe the answer is in the Mike Marshall approach I mentioned below, movement over velocity. And command – up down in out change speeds and hitting the spots you aim at. In other words, pitching. What a novel approach in this era of velocity.
In watching Wrobleski last night I noticed his fastball thrown up in the zone was missing high. It’s a good enough pitch that if he could locate it accurately he wouldn’t have to throw it that often to be effective with it. Command. It’s missing with many of the Dodgers pitchers, and those with lesser stuff could benefit from it.
Great write up Jeff. Thanks.
The Dodgers under Friedman have shown a greater propensity than most any other team to draft pitchers who have been through TJ surgery. One reason, I’m sure, is because of their always low draft position. But maybe they need to re- think that strategy. If a pitcher gets to us with one TJ already behind him that may be asking for a shirt- lived career.
So he has used that strategy to win the division every year. Let the guys throw as hard as they can for as long as they can, then the next guy in the pipeline steps up. Plus add a few here and there with trades or FA signings
Valid point. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.
Although, it’s getting to the point where they might simply not have enough pitchers to keep replacing the injured ones.
Yes, he’s used the strategy to win the division every year, but I thought the ultimate goal was to win the World Series, and that has been elusive.
STB, your last sentence say it all for me. When most of your starting staff is infirmed come playoff time it makes it difficult to be successful for a World Series victory. And for me, it’s frustrating as a fan to enjoy watching a pitcher do well only to know it’s only a matter of time before TJ surgery or a lengthy time on the IL.
STB, this is broken. I’m not calling you out at all, but are we all being desensitized and conditioned to accept disposable pitchers? It’s so disappointing but the next man up philosophy keeps us watching while this is bad for baseball in a thousand ways.
I just read comments in a piece by Fabian Ardaya quoting AF and the Dodgers plan to reevaluate what they are doing with pitchers. It contained his typical baseball speak including “investigating and reimagining” why after “Stone on Friday, became the 12th Dodgers starter to land on the injured list, joining eight others still currently on it”.
I have thoughts on the effectiveness of “innings management” and “curbing workloads” that I have previously expressed.
One problem has been a reluctance of organizations to share information and data amongst themselves; each hoarding what they know. MLB might be deep into this research, using all the information available.
I don’t know. I hope so. But this is imperative for the future of the game.
I still can’t understand why nobody (relatively speaking) wants to master the knuckle ball these days.
Less stress on the arm and considering how rare it is these days, that should make it even tougher than it used to be to hit.
Niekro, Hough, Wilhelm – all pitched forever. You’d think there would be at least one contrarian baseball exec out there who would follow that logic.
Good point on the K-ball. It may still be the case but damned near every infielder had a great sideline K’ball playing catch. Few took it to the mound. It takes a special arm action and a short stride and has to work every time. A bad K-ball is just BP and it’s harder to throw on incline.
But you would think somebody would try to master it. Many did it as a career saver.
Despite the resent lip service given to command and stuff over velocity, that’s all bullshit. What’s the first thing you are going to see from scouts in the stands behind the plate at high school, summer leagues and college games? It’s radar guns. Velocity is still the king. If prospects don’t have velo, scouts aren’t interested. Parents know that and they are willing to spend handsomely to send Johnny to Driveline and similar facilities to learn to pitch with maximum velocity and spin. Starting at a young age. Perfect Game ranks 12 year olds, for crying out loud. I will bet you that isn’t related to trickery. There would not be one scout who would write-up and submit a 16 year old knuckleball prospect.
Maybe they should but instead the industry will just improve the medical procedures and replace UCLs with little steel cables.
I’m a firm believer in what I call the pendulum theory of life. When things go too far in one direction they ultimately swing back in the other.
Some washed up knuckle ball pitcher will start Knuckleline and the few parents who don’t want their kids having 2 TJ’s by the time they graduate HS, will sign up their youngsters.
Perhaps with a knuckleball there are to many pass balls by the catcher and it’s much easier to steal off of a knuckleball pitcher. I agree with Phil, seems like a lot of players have a knuckleball when playing catch.
There’s a myriad of reasons for knuckleballers. Hard to differentiate at the lower minor league levels. Control is always questionable. When it is, you are missing very few bats. Hard to catch.
It’s very, very gimmicky.
If Wyatt pitches this year for the Dodgers it will be because he was the last man standing and that doesn’t totally rule him out.
I wonder what third pitch will come about? Recent history would lean to change or cutter? Maybe sweeper?
Which of these pitches is both easier to command and easier on the elbow and shoulder.
Supinate or pronate after TJ? Beats me, but Mike Marshall would say pronate. I would say maybe just go with the two seamer that breaks either way depending on thumb placement. That gives you two pitches and neither have to be thrown that hard. Movement rather than velocity, another Marshall premise. If you have to pick one go with the cutter I guess.
It’s a shame Mike Marshall isn’t still around today to give his input on all the arm injuries. He was a very interesting guy and backed up his theories with some very good pitching.
We talk about how pitchers are babied today. Marshall appeared in 106 games for the Dodgers in 1974 and at one point that season made relief appearances in 13 consecutive games.
Not sure if this has been mentioned previously, but Marshall was a cousin to Brent Honeywell’s father.
So, are Brent and Mike related?
Mars was considered a rather brusque guy. “He had the right message, but he was the wrong messenger”. Don’t know who said that but it sums it up. Too bad. I believe that guy knew more about pitching than anyone. I’m sure if he were alive today he would have a strong opinion about how to go about fixing the problem.
Dodgers optioned Wrobleski to OKC, purchased the contract of Nick Ramirez from OKC. Designated Peterson for assignment.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Musical chairs. Cleveland has the lefty hitters. Banda probably could use a day or 2. It seems Vesia has not been used as much as Banda. I think Vesia is better when rested. Ramirez is a journeyman so not a long term option.
just checked I was wrong on the usage. Banda 45 games Vesia 57 games. It just seems like Banda is in there everyday lately. Both have produced.
Musical chairs sums it up. It’s been working. Will it work for another 7 weeks or so?
Shohei Ohtani (L) DHMookie Betts (R) RFFreddie Freeman (L) 1BMax Muncy (L) 3BWill Smith (R) CTommy Edman (S) SSGavin Lux (L) 2BAndy Pages (R) LFKevin Kiermaier (L) CF
Pages and Kiermaier in the lineup together, Rojas with his day off. Flaherty on the mound. Hope he can go 7. Actually, hope he can go 6. Bibee RHP, 12-6, 3.56 ERA, 162 SO on the mound for Cleveland
Question: Why did Doc only use Wrobo for 2 innings and 40 pitches yesterday, when (although his control wasn’t great) he didn’t give up any runs and had a 4 run lead.
That strategy lead to the use of 7 pitchers when we have 4 more games before a day off.
Since Wrobo was optioned today, maybe there was something important going on in OKC that they needed him to be fresh for? (raising the sarcasm flag).
Those pitchers were told how many innings they were going to throw before the game started unless something blew up.
And what inning they were going to throw.
But that doesn’t answer my question of why Wrobo, who has been a starter all year, wasn’t penciled in for more innings.
Our bullpen is overworked as it is. Why look for situations to use more pitchers when you have a starter available?
I was thinking the same thing. We whine about the bullpen and here u have a starter go 2 innings. As I was watching I was thinking are u kidding me? Why even bring him up. Now u got a couple probably who cant go today.
treinen was warming so I figured he was coming in. I’m sure that would be doc’s reasoning.
Probably because we were one swing from it being a one-run game. If I had been a smoker, I would have gone through a full pack while he was pitching.
Then they should have pulled him at that point if they were so concerned. When they did pull him, there was nobody on base and a 4-run lead.
After his horrific inning last time out, he actually settled down and pitched fairly effectively for awhile.
Maybe he was penciled in for more innings but he looked to be working hard out there. 40 pitches in 2 innings isn’t efficient, and only 22 strikes is not good. Perhaps they are figuring him for another, hopefully longer outing in the near future.
Wrobleski optioned to AAA, Nick Ramirez recalled, Michael Petersen DFAd.
Barlow DFAd by Cleveland and they called up Gose.
Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs announced that he has prostate cancer. Many prayers for recovery from this.
I don’t gamble beyond the Craps table, nor do I check lines.
I wonder what kind of return a bet on Ohtani going 50/50 would have returned.
Nobody in the stands today. If ohtani gets close that will change.
Mb Doc will think twice about hitting kike for Muncy after the left on left homer
Great outing by Flaherty. Ace performance after that bullpen game yesterday. Phillpps made it a bit too close for my nerves but eventually closed it down.
Padres down 7-6 to SF in the 9th. They were down 7-1 after 7.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Flaherty shows he can b an ace. Surprising Roberts chooses to use Phillips against all the lefties. But he got the dp ball to change the inning against their best hitter. Glad to c Smith get 3 hits.
Giants did hold on. 7-6 the final.
Dodgers back up 6 games on the Padres.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Padres lost 7-6 LA now 6 games up with 19 to play. SD only has 17 left.
Attendance: 44,207
Paid, obviously.
I counted them during post game 12,718 plus one in the bathroom lol c if that’s what u get. Of course I yield to the GOAT
Oh, with the heat, the fires and the opponent I bet the physical audience is way below the paid.
I was wondering who that was hanging out in the bathroom, counting?
Yep. Not sure how many actually showed up but it certainly wasn’t close to that number.
Yep, that is how many tickets they sold, I would guess under 25,000 actually there.
Dodgers don’t care. Vendors do.
Now that’s ace like! October ready
Sure was. On September 8th, we got 1. It’s possible we could have 3 by the end of the month. Possible.
Badger, continuing our Mike Marshall conversation from yesterday, I found this on Wikipedia:
“Marshall taught and advocated a pitching method he developed that he “believes could completely eradicate pitching-arm injuries.” He wanted pitchers to externally rotate early as they swing their arm up. That means the pitcher will lift the hand before the elbow, so that the wrist faces away from the body and up, the hand is above the elbow when the front foot touches the ground, which leads to a smooth transition without a “forearm bounce”, as Marshall called it. Marshall believed this causes ulnar collateral ligament injuries, which can necessitate ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, which is known as “Tommy John surgery”. He wanted to first lay back the forearm and then accelerate by rotating the body instead of bending over, in order to protect the elbow against injury.”
I read that three times and I’m still not sure I understand what he’s saying, but perhaps you, or Phil, or some other reader here will understand it.
Not clear to me. I think I would have to see it to know what he’s talking about. I do recall he said the correct process begins with the pitcher holding the ball in his glove with the palm of the hand facing towards the body. Small thing but according to him a big adjustment. After that, again I would need to see what comes next.
I’m not sure but I believe Tom House used some of Marshall’s methods. I have no idea if any organization is using them now. It would be an interesting topic on which to follow up. Mike Marshall finished with 1380 innings pitched and a 3.14 ERA. Pretty amazing stats for a reliever.
I can pretty much bet you the playoff rotation for starting pitching for the playoffs will be.
GLASNOW
YAMAMOTO
FLARETHY
KERSHAW
STONE OR BUEHLER
Do they need them now. No. But to win in the playoffs and world series. yes they do. Can other teams match that starting five in a playoff series. My guess is the Phillies would and there lineup is pretty good.
Flaherty,Yamamoto, Buehler, Glasnow looks more likely at the moment and Yama and Glasnow aren’t even activated yet. Sad