Dylan Crews. The man was drafted out of LSU, as we all know, back in 2023, with the 2nd overall pick. To date, the 24-year-old has not quite lived up to expectations. Much of the struggles, we know, are due to his 2025 injury. The young outfielder seemed as if he was battling back, but the output since the calendar turned to August has been brutal.
Over Crews' last 10 games of last month, as of July 30, he was batting .294 with a 1.072 OPS. In those games, Crews has 3 home runs and 5 RBI's. Crews notably had a 16% walk rate in that time and a 195 wRC+ — top-10 caliber output for an MLB hitter. In comparison, Crews' stats beforehand had seen the outfielder with a sub-.220 batting average, sub-.700 OPS, and a sub-70 wRC+.
When we check the splits of Crews, we find many changes to the brainpower behind his batting strategy. Crews had 14 walks in July alone, compared to 4 total in his other 36 games. Plate discipline appears to be paying dividends. His on-base percentage rose all the way to .372 in July, compared to just .271 in June.
So far in August, Crews is batting just .125/.222/.188 with a .410 OPS, but has still only struck out twice and also walked twice, indicating that his approach is still improved despite not getting the immediate results. As has been the story for Crews throughout his career, can he finally put it all together for a sustained stretch?
Can Dylan Crews truly break out to end this season for the Nationals?
Crews is a player who has been asked to improve his level of baseball. The 2nd-overall draft pick was a huge investment. The team has made sure to save him a starting spot, and Crews' 57-game season since his May return has featured 54 starts.
The 4th-year National came back to the team in the second half of May after a call-up to Triple-A. When Crews got the call-up, he mainly replaced Joey Weimer, who had gotten off to a hot start himself.
Weimer had played to a .327 batting average, .995 OPS, and 172 wRC+ across March/April. Weimer's May regression partly contributed to Crews' call-up, although it was emphasized more than anything else in the effort to get Crews back in D.C.
The Nationals now have a young core evermore shaping up into a great place. James Wood and CJ Abrams lead the team. Yet, they still await further breakouts from not just Crews, but Brady House. The 3rd baseman, House, had a red-hot Spring Training which regressed into a sub-.700 OPS season over 47 games of an ailing season.
All we Nationals fans can continue to do is wait and see. Can Crews keep up his hot streak? If so, he may earn some brownie points with us fans while also fueling the Nationals' final efforts at making a late wild-card run. However, those hopes are fleeting after deadline moves that saw the team trade away notable pieces like Luis Garcia Jr. and Foster Griffin, while acquiring several pieces that won't contribute this season.
If Crews does indeed keep this up, a 1-4 lineup of Wood, Luis Garcia Jr., Crews, and CJ Abrams may be among the MLB's top units. Something unfeared across the MLB entering March becomes just what the doctor ordered at Nationals Park. Let's keep up the confidence in the guys and let Crews prove the haters wrong.
What do you think of Crews in the long-term? Let us know on X — @DistrictOnDeck.
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