Hans Crouse, major leaguer

Hans Crouse, the righthanded pitcher selected in the second round by the Texas Rangers in the 2017 MLB Draft, made his major league debut for the Philadelphia Phillies today.

Crouse, who was one of the top pitching prospects in the Rangers organization after the 2018 season, but saw his stock fall after a rough 2019 season and the 2020 COVID year, was dealt to the Phillies at the trade deadline in 2021 as part of the deal that sent Ian Kennedy and Kyle Gibson to Philadelphia, with Spencer Howard headlining the package coming back for him. Crouse started the year with AA Frisco, and reports on his stuff early on weren’t good, though things improved as the year went on. Still, the Rangers seemed to have concluded that Crouse’s future was in the bullpen, and given the number of righty relief prospects the Rangers have, they viewed Crouse as a player they were willing to part with to land Howard, who they see as having starting potential.

Crouse being called up (and the willingness of the Rangers to include him in the deal) was due in part to his being Rule 5 eligible after this season. As with Glenn Otto and Nick Snyder with the Rangers, Crouse was someone the Phillies were going to protect this offseason anyway, so given their need for arms over the final week there was no reason not to bring him up now.

Crouse was the starter for the Phillies against the Pittsburgh Pirates today, and gave up a home run to the first batter of the game. Crouse kept the Pirates off the board for the rest of the three innings he threw, however, walking four while striking out one. Unfortunately for Hans, the Phillies got shut out, 6-0, so the lone run he gave up ended up getting him tagged for the loss.