The Washington Nationals have been the subject of a lot of negativity in the 2025 MLB season. Whether it be from firing their manager and GM or losing their top prospect to Tommy John Surgery, the club has been through a ton of ups and downs.
While the team has truly leaned into embracing the youth movement this season, with guys like James Wood, CJ Abrams, Brady House, and even guys like Brad Lord making significant contributions this season, they have been without one key piece to their future. That piece is 2023 #2 overall pick Dylan Crews, who has been sidelines since May.
However, as of today, Crews is finally making significant progress in his quest to return to the Nationals, as he will begin a rehab assignment with AAA Rochester. It is unclear how long Crews will need down in the minors before he is able to rejoin the Nationals, but this is finally some big news that fans have been waiting on since our last update.
Coming into this season as one of the favorites for National League Rookie of the Year, the first full season for Crews has been a frustrating one. He was the last qualified hitter in the big leagues to record a hit to begin the season, and of course has had the injury as well hindering his development.
Before he got hurt, Crews was showing signs of figuring things out at the big league level, as he had slashed .286/.423/.571 in his last 7 games before getting hurt, and had even hit 2 of his 7 homers this season in that same stretch. Most importantly, he had begun to see the ball a lot better, with a 4:7 BB:K ratio over those games that showcased just how dangerous he can be when he is seeing the ball effectively.
The key question that many fans are wondering is who will cede playing time to Crews upon his return, as the outfield combination of Wood, Daylen Lile, Jacob Young, and Alex Call would leave too many mouths to feed for just 3 spots. From a hitting standpoint, it makes the most sense for Jacob Young to lose playing time, although his defense may just keep him in a near everyday role.
Crews is almost as capable from a defensive perspective in center field, but he has almost exclusively played right field with Young healthy. The other two outcomes could be a trade of Alex Call, which would make it so the Nationals could shift Young into a 4th outfielder role, where many people, myself included, believe he fits best on this team.
Lile has shown flashes at the plate in his rookie season with the Nationals, but also might be the most defensively limited outfielder out of all the names above. It will be very interesting to see how the Nationals decide to configure their outfield once Crews is back in the fold, but before that comes into play, he will have to prove that he is fully recovered from his injury by succeeding on his rehab assignment.
When do you think Dylan Crews will rejoin the Nationals? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.