Drink the juice, boy.
Taking the first pitch doesn't necessarily mean you're passive.
Phillies have had two color guys (Stairs and the Krukster) who know how to hit, and they both preach focusing on the pitch you want when you're ahead of the count, and don't swing at the pitcher's pitch.
Now what I see a lot of is young hitters in the majors sitting on FBs, because minor league pitchers want to get ahead in the count.
But once you show you can hit a pitcher's FB, they'll often start you off with a breaking ball in the Show.
Altherr sees a lot of first strike curves for that reason - so if he's sitting FB, his best bet is not to swing and hope it's called a ball.
There's nothing in the scouting reports about Crawford being a slap hitter (unlike Lucas Williams who had a really short stroke that had to be adjusted to generate power, and may explain his struggles).
So that may be in response to his injury.
Strength shouldn't be a problem at this point, he's 22 and isn't a skinny runt like Tocci.
So it's got to be swing mechanics, and that may take time to correct.
