The Washington Nationals made a decision on outfielder Dylan Crews ahead of Opening Day.
Washington Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews hasn’t had the best spring training, slashing slashed .103/.206/.103 with 11 strikeouts and four walks over the offseason. The 24-year-old was the organization’s second overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft and rose quickly through the farm system to make his MLB debut in 2024. On Friday, they made the surprising decision to option Crews down to Triple-A Rochester after his struggles through spring. It’s a noteworthy move for their former top pick, and a disappointing roster move that he’ll have to bounce back on. He was drafted out of the LSU Tigers and is a cornerstone in the team’s future plans; he’s on the sidelines in the short term.
Nats manager Blake Butera and president of baseball operations Paul Toboni told Crews the news, and Butera told reporters that Crews “took it like a pro.” He dealt with injuries along other struggles in the 2025 season, missing a few months last campaign due to an oblique injury in his first full season with the team after reaching the Majors on Aug. 26 of 2024. The plan that Washington hopes pays off is to have Crews focus on some of the things he’s been tweaking in camp to better his offensive numbers, with them seeing things translate as recently as Thursday.
Here is the full story from Nationals Roundtable writer Ahmed Ghafir on the surprising news.
Now, the starting outfield projects to be James Wood, Jacob Young and Daylen Lile, while Crews works on his edits and tries to find some consistency before heading back up to the Majors.