The Detroit Tigers have promoted catcher Josh Crouch to Double-A Erie.

This is a well-deserved promotion for Josh Crouch, who has been one of the biggest success stories in Detroit’s system this year. He posted an .814 OPS in 101 games between Low-A Lakeland and High-A West Michigan, and was also recognized by Midwest League managers as the best defensive catcher in the league.

A well-deserved honor for a huge part of the 2022 @wmwhitecaps.@tigers prospect Josh Crouch has been named the Midwest League’s Best Defensive Catcher in a vote among League Managers for @BaseballAmerica. pic.twitter.com/EP7EKSM5Xp

— Dan Hasty (@ThatDanHasty) September 1, 2022

Where did Josh Crouch come from?

The Tigers took Josh Crouch in the 11th-round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Central Florida. He played in 24 games in the Florida Complex league after the draft, but he managed just a .594 OPS with a 32% strikeout rate.

Crouch came into 2022 with little fanfare, though he first drew our attention with an impressive hit in spring training:

Don’t want to make too much out of one AB against a pitcher who hasn’t been out of A-ball – but this is a really nice piece of hitting from Josh Crouch. Recognizes it’s a breaking ball and stays back long enough to barrel it to RF. pic.twitter.com/NZPypLSsff

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) March 28, 2022

He began the season in Low-A Lakeland, but was quickly promoted to High-A West Michigan after just 11 games. The Whitecaps were 8-13 at the time, but Crouch’s arrival signified a major turnaround for the club. He homered in his first game with West Michigan, and the team went 64-46 with him in the dugout.

Josh Crouch blasts a home run to deep left center. It’s his first game with West Michigan, and his first homer of the season. pic.twitter.com/Sh4jphf96v

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 4, 2022

Crouch hit .290/.367/.445 in 90 games with the Whitecaps, smacking 10 home runs and 22 doubles while posting a 9.9% walk rate and a 14.7% strikeout rate. His 127 wRC+ was the best among all qualified Midwest League catchers.

He also showed some skill on the other side of the ball, catching high-octane pitchers like Wilmer Flores, Jackson Jobe, Ty Madden, and Dylan Smith, and cutting down 29% of potential base stealers.

Whitecaps catcher Josh Crouch owns an OPS over .800 this year, but he can also throw a little bit. He nabbed two runners on the bases tonight. You can hear @ThatDanHasty and @wangler_nathan talk about it ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/86sNJyAQ8k

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 2, 2022

So what took so long?

Here at Tigers Minor League Report, we post a lot of videos on Twitter. Most of those videos show players like Josh Crouch doing good things, which inevitably leads to comments like “call him up!” and “Why isn’t he in Erie?!?”

Highlights can be misleading, but in Crouch’s case, those comments were justifiable. He probably could have handled a promotion a few months ago, and from a developmental standpoint, he probably should have been promoted. 

But players don’t exist in a vacuum, and Crouch is far from a finished product defensively. He needed to be behind the plate four times a week to work on his craft. And with West Michigan fighting for a playoff berth, and fellow catching prospect Dillon Dingler needing regular reps too, it made sense for Crouch to remain with the Whitecaps.

But now West Michigan’s season is over, and Dingler is on the injured list. That leaves the Erie SeaWolves with glove-first veterans Michael De La Cruz and Jon Rosoff as their catching duo as they claw for the playoffs over their final six games.

Crouch has more offensive potential than either De La Cruz or Rosoff, and he could potentially provide a huge impact for Erie. But the jump from A Ball to Double-A is significant, and it may be asking a bit much for him to contribute right away.

If nothing else, it’s a nice reward for Josh Crouch, who turned himself into one of the Detroit Tigers’ most interesting prospects this year.