After struggling in his first full season with the organization, will Washington Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews bounce back in 2026?
The Washington Nationals have only made a handful of notable moves in the first offseason under president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, leaving questions as to who of the young players in-house could step up to fill a void in 2026?
The notable moves, of course, came to the pitching staff after dealing MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers while inking a pair of experienced pitchers in Foster Griffin and Miles Mikolas who are expected to play a role in the 2026 rotation. While Cade Cavalli also enters the season with a chance to prove himself as the Nationals' next piece looking to breakout, one outlet pointed to right fielder Dylan Crews as, once again, the biggest question for the Nationals ahead of 2026.
"The Nationals aren't going to make the playoffs this year, but they can at least give their fans something to be excited about. And to this end, it's about time Crews lived up to being the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft," Rymer said of Washington. "He's been woeful in 116 games in the majors, posting a .634 OPS and 13 home runs. He has the talent to do a lot better, but a lot of the finer points of his game (i.e., swing discipline) need work."
2025 marked the first full season in the big leagues for Crews, though the results between year one and year two largely mirror themselves after hitting .218 in 2024 then .208 in 2025 with just a .001 difference in slugging and .01 different in OPS between the two seasons.
Crews opened 2025 hitless through his first five games and went nearly three weeks before notching his first home run of the season. An early left oblique strain in May sidelined him for nearly three months before he returned to form, posting a pair of doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs over a two-week stretch in early September.
Crews is part of a crowded backfield in Washington that also features All-Star - and near-Team USA selection - James Wood alongside Jacob Young and Daylen Lile with Lile expected to serve in a DH role, but whether the former LSU star can return to September form consistently is one of the bigger development storylines in 2026.
Set to turn 24 next week, Crews is also part of the young foundation within the Nationals organization who has also proven himself as a plus defender despite questions of such out of LSU.
“When Dylan understands he can still be Dylan Crews in the big leagues and be himself and have confidence, ‘I don't just belong here; I'm an All-Star caliber player’ … We're going to support him with that, surround him with that and make sure he feels that way,” first-year manager Blake Butera said of Crews.