Justin Crawford is not the first member of his family to play at Coca-Cola Park.

His second cousin, J.P. Crawford, played for the IronPigs for parts of three seasons prior to being dealt to Seattle.

Justin Crawford’s dad never played in the Lehigh Valley, but did spend 15 seasons in the majors, primarily with Tampa Bay, and also had stints with the Red Sox and Dodgers.

Now, Justin Crawford gets his chance to be a member of the IronPigs, even though he is just 21 years old.

Much of Crawford’s childhood was spent hanging out with his dad at ballparks all across the country, and getting to know players who were both teammates and opponents of his dad. Ironically, many of those players who Crawford got to know back then are now coaches that he’s run into along the way as a minor league player.

“There are a ton of guys that I run into now as a player who are coaches. Desmond Jennings, one of our coaches, was coaching me. Guys like Michael Bourn, who was actually a family friend, he’s coaching now. It’s kind of fun to get to see them, and there are a lot of full circle moments for me in this game,” said Crawford.

The childhood version of Justin Crawford thought he was just hanging out with his dad and his friends, and it just so happened to be at a major league ballpark. Looking back though, Crawford realizes that even at a very early age, he was learning the game of baseball just by being around those guys. He wasn’t actively looking for pointers, but somewhere in his brain some of the more important parts of being a professional baseball player were stored, lessons he is now putting to use.

“I got used to seeing the daily grind that my dad and his teammates went through. I was fortunate at a young age to hang out with my dad, and got to see all of the work that goes into being a major leaguer,” remembers Crawford. “I don’t think I even realized it at the time, but it kind of came back to me when I started playing.”

It will be interesting to watch Crawford’s progression this season. As expected, he’s moved quickly through the Phillies minor league system, and the Phillies challenged him with a move to Triple-A this season after just 40 games at Double-A Reading last season. In those games, Crawford hit .333 with three home runs, 26 RBI and 15 stolen bases for the Fightins. Between Reading and Jersey Shore last season, Crawford swiped 42 bases and hit a combined .313, just off his minor league average of .316.

Speed is an important part of Crawford’s game, and he has learned that stealing bases is not just about speed, but that there is an art to the process. Crawford spends time watching opposing pitchers, and working on getting their timing down and looking for things he can take advantage of against various pitchers and catchers.

“That’s just something I’ve been blessed with,” said Crawford of his speed. “There’s a lot that goes with that though because speed is great, but you can make it an even bigger weapon if you use it well. I work on how to steal bases, and how to get good jumps in the outfield so that I can make plays. Of course, when you screw up, speed can get you out of some trouble by allowing you to make up ground, but you don’t want to play the game that way. I want to be a guy who can get to the ball and make plays by learning how to do things the right way.”

COMING TO AMERICA ... Koyo Aoyagi made his official pro debut Saturday at Coca-Cola Park. The 31-year-old right-hander threw 26 pitches in his 2/3 of an inning against Scranton in a 5-4 Lehigh Valley win. Aoyagi struggled with his control, walking two and hitting two batters, resulting in one earned run.

HAMMERIN’ HENRY ... Payton Henry was in the opening night starting lineup behind the plate and endeared himself to fans by hitting a pair of home runs. It was the first multi-homer game for Henry since Aug. 2, 2023, and marked the first time in franchise history that an IronPigs hitter had a multi-homer game on Opening Day.

ROCHESTER AGAIN? ... For the third straight season, Lehigh Valley has its first road series of the year in Rochester. Of the nine games they have been scheduled to play on their first trip to Rochester in the past two seasons, five of them have been postponed or canceled by cold, rainy, snowy weather. In 2018, the opening series between the two teams was actually moved to Lehigh Valley because Rochester’s field was completely covered in snow. They might luck out this season with Thursday’s high in Rochester predicted to be 68; of course, they are also calling for rain.