Though he has speed to burn, Crawford isn’t in a hurry. The 20-year-old prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system has learned that what he wants — to reach the majors like his father, four-time all-star outfielder Carl Crawford — requires patience. Nothing will happen before its time.

“It’s just being in the moment, being where your two feet are,” Crawford said recently while sitting in the stands at ShoreTown Ballpark before taking the field for the Phillies’ high Class A affiliate, the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. “My mom always says, ‘Shoot for the stars; land on the clouds.’ So, dream big and visualize it. I got a lot of different goals, but I think my biggest one right now is first getting there.”

Crawford is representative of a group of young, Black American players who are quietly developing in the minors and collegiate ranks. While the percentage of Black players in the majors has plummeted to historic lows in recent years, there are encouraging signs that change is coming — aided, it appears, by recent MLB initiatives to improve the sport’s pipeline of Black talent.

“I don’t get discouraged in terms of the numbers at the major league level because I know what’s on the horizon,” said Tony Reagins, MLB’s chief baseball development officer. “We’re in a good place. I know we have some talented, young baseball players that are going to make some noise in the future here. There’s some excitement brewing.”

Only 57 Black American players were on Opening Day rosters — just 6 percent of MLB — a far cry from three decades ago, when nearly one in five MLB players was Black. But there were another 27 Black players on 40-man rosters who are currently in the minors or already have been called up.

The all-star break provided further evidence of a positive trend. Nine Black American players, including Crawford, made the rosters for the All-Star Futures Game, which featured 50 of MLB’s top prospects. During the draft Sunday, eight Black Americans were among the first 21 players selected — on the heels of 10 of the top 50 in 2023, 13 of the top 100 in 2022 and 12 of the top 100 in 2021.

And when MLB held its inaugural Spring Breakout minor league showcase in March, 9.5 percent of the players were Black, with 30 of the 74 Black players being alumni of MLB Develops programs, such as the MLB Youth Academy, Breakthrough Series, Dream Series and the Hank Aaron Invitational.

From Michael Harris II, the electrifying Atlanta Braves outfielder who was the National League rookie of the year in 2022, to Hunter Greene, the flamethrowing right-hander for the Cincinnati Reds who made his first all-star team this season, the success stories from those programs are beginning to pile up. There are more on the way.

MLB is the most diverse of the four major North American sports, but as Black American athletes have maintained a dominant presence in the NFL and the NBA, they have slowly abandoned America’s pastime.

The reasons for the steady downturn are varied. Some are cultural, some systemic. The cost of equipment and travel baseball. The slower process of reaching the big leagues. Limited scholarship opportunities for non-revenue-producing collegiate sports. And, the fact that success in baseball goes hand-in-hand with struggle. “The higher you get, the harder it gets,” Harris said earlier this season. “Unless you grow into it, it’s not really as fun. Playing this game, you have to be mentally tough.”

MLB Develops programs work to prevent young Black players from giving up on the game prematurely by providing financial resources and training from former major league players and coaches. They also identify and platform talent through high-profile showcases and tournaments that allow them to be seen. More than 25 percent of the Black players on Opening Day rosters took part in at least one of those programs.

Reagins, a former general manager for the Los Angeles Angels, joined Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office in 2015 with an objective to improve baseball participation at a grass-roots level, to ensure there always will be a considerable pool of talent. Those efforts have resulted in baseball reaching its highest participation rate nationwide since 2008, according to the most recent Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s Topline Participation Report. But Reagins, who is Black, also understood that his position carried another purpose.

“I wanted to make sure that we have more talented African American players in the pipeline,” he said while stressing that more work needs to be done. “I didn’t want that pipeline to die.”

The eight Black American players drafted in the first round Sunday was one shy of the nine taken in 2022 — when, for the first time, four of the first five picks were Black. And all four — Druw Jones (son of former Braves center fielder Andruw Jones), Kumar Rocker, Termarr Johnson and Elijah Green — participated in at least one MLB Develops program.

Cam Collier, a power-hitting third baseman who was named MVP of Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game, was taken 18th by the Cincinnati Reds that year, one spot behind Crawford.

“It’s pretty cool being able to be a part of the new wave,” Collier said. “It’s something to look forward to.”

Collier, 19, is in his third minor league season and is playing for the Dayton Dragons, the Reds’ high Class A affiliate. He has faced humbling experiences but also has smacked 13 home runs this season, impressing scouts and reinforcing what he has always been told by his father, former big leaguer Lou Collier, and mentors Marquis Grissom and Marvin Freeman: The spotlight won’t arrive without some dark days.

“It definitely put me ahead of the curve,” said Collier, who reclassified a year early to enter the 2022 draft. “I’m failing for the first time.”

But Collier also has a support system that was enhanced by his participation in MLB Develops programs, which are set up to help big league hopefuls understand what’s ahead as they advance. They also get to be around other Black players with similar ambitions and experiences of isolation as one of the few players — or the only one — who look like them on their travel or high school teams.

“Once you get in that kind of setting where it’s all Black players, you know how we talk [trash] amongst each other and kind of challenge each other. You’re going to get called out. You’re going to get teased a little bit,” said Grissom, an instructor in three MLB Develops programs. “But you really find out who you are as a player, and you realize how much you need to work.”

Crawford, 20, had the desire to play in the majors ever since he could remember; he grew up shadowing his father in major league clubhouses. He also had the means to chase his dream if there never had been MLB Develops but remains grateful for what the programs provided — he was able to showcase his talent and forge friendships that have lasted since middle school. They also probably gave him some bragging rights over his father, who was a second-round pick.

“We’re really, really competitive in our family,” Crawford said with a laugh. “My dad still thinks he’s faster than me.”

Whenever he has a tough stretch at the plate and finds himself on the phone with his parents wondering if he will ever break out, or when he’s taking an eight-hour bus ride to spend a week in a less-than-glamorous location, Crawford is reminded of the need for patience. But he hopes that he and many other talented Black players in the minors and college won’t be hidden much longer — like the Cuban-link gold chain he can’t keep tucked beneath his jersey while terrorizing the base paths.

“It really kind of just goes back to aspiring to have those certain goals and knowing that it is somewhat of a ways away,” Crawford said. “Just being present and then next thing you know, slowly but surely, you end up being a little bit closer.”