Washington Nationals Grades: Dylan Crews endured a difficult rookie season

There was a lot of hype for Dylan Crews heading into the season. He was a consensus top 10 prospect in the sport and was second in Rookie of the Year odds behind Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. However, things did not click for Crews at the plate this year, which led to a very disappointing season.

Between an injury that cost him nearly half the season and a lot of growing pains at the plate, this is not what Nats fans envisioned for Dylan Crews. Coming out of LSU, Crews was one of the most hyped draft prospects in years. Most years he would have been a slam dunk number one pick, but in 2023 a kid named Paul Skenes popped onto the scene. 

So when the Nats took Crews second overall, it was seen as a franchise altering pick. However, Crews has not hit the heights he was expected to so far in his pro career. Last season, Crews was good in the Minor Leagues, but he did not put up jaw dropping numbers either. His OPS was right around .800 at both Double-A and Triple-A. 

After he got called up to the big leagues last August, Crews showed flashes of potential, but only hit .218 with a .641 OPS in 31 games. Crews was expected to take the next step and build on his MLB debut. However, that did not happen for him.

His numbers were very similar to 2024 in the MLB, but slightly worse. In 85 games, Crews hit .208 with a .632 OPS. He slugged 10 homers while swiping 17 bases. There were stretches where Crews looked like he was figuring it out, but those only lasted a couple weeks at most. After that, Crews would go back to struggling badly.

We have now seen 412 at bats from Dylan Crews, and he is hitting .211 with a .634 OPS. I would not say it is time to panic, but it is time to be a bit concerned. At this point, I find it unlikely that Crews will be the star player he was expected to be when he was at LSU. Most star players show more flashes 116 games into their career than Crews has to this point. You cannot rule it out, but it feels unlikely.

However, I still think there is a very good chance of Crews being an impactful starter. His secondary tools are excellent. He is a very good defender, who can make great plays out in right field and center field when given the chance. The former LSU star compiled 3 outs above average this season. Crews is also a good base runner and a smart player.

If he can figure out the bat, there is a lot to like here. Despite the poor numbers, there are some signs of life with the bat. Crews got pretty unlucky this year. His wOBA of .279 is far lower than his xWOBA of .320. That .320 xWOBA is right around league average. If Crews can be a league average hitter next year, he will be an impactful hitter.

Another thing to like about Crews is his mentality. He is one of those guys who clearly gets it and is desperate to win. His quote to Spencer Nusbaum about accountability is an example of his getting it.

However, it is tough to lead when you aren’t producing. You can say all the right things, but it is tough to set the tone in the locker room when you are hitting .208. If Crews can figure at the plate, he can be a huge part of this core.

So what exactly does Crews need to get better at doing at the plate? Well, there are a few things. Before the season, Crews was known as a guy who hammered fastballs but struggled with spin. In his brief stint last year, Crews hit .299 against fastballs but just .098 against breaking balls.

This year he hit a poor, but less outrageous .180 against breaking balls, but his production against heaters dipped. Crews hit all 10 of his homers against fastballs, but only hit .220 against the pitch. His whiff rate on fastballs went from under 10% to over 25%.

He actually handled sinkers quite well, but 4-seamers gave him problems, especially at the top of the zone. Crews whiffed over 30% of the time against 4-seamers in 2025, compared to 9% in 2024. When watching him, Crews often looked uncomfortable in the box and his timing looked off. That led to him not being on time against fastballs. For Crews to succeed, he needs to be a great fastball hitter. That is what he has been his entire career and it is something he needs to get back to doing. 

The other big problem he needs to solve is something that has been an issue for a while, his ground ball rate. Crews has put the ball on the ground over 50% of the time in 2024 and 2025. Those ground balls are a big reason why his BABIP is so low at just .246.

Sure, some of that could be bad luck, but it is also due to a poor spray chart. Crews is not getting the ball in the air enough, especially to the pull side. In an age where pulled fly balls are king, Crews’ air pull numbers are well below average. To reach his ceiling, Crews needs to optimize his batted ball profile.

Overall, 2025 left us with more questions than answers regarding Dylan Crews. 2026 is going to be a massive year for his development. I am not sure it is a make or break year, but it is going to tell us a lot about whether Crews is part of this core or not.

 It is important to remember that Paul Toboni is not as attached to Dylan Crews as Mike Rizzo was. He was not the guy who drafted Crews second overall, so the leash is shorter now than it would have been with Rizzo. James Wood and Daylen Lile entrenched themselves in two of the Nats out three Nationals outfield spots. Can Dylan Crews claim the third one for himself in 2026? We will see, but he did not do that in 2025.

Season Grade: D