Humbleness of Star Prospect Gives Washington Nationals No Doubt He'll Reach Ceiling
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The Washington Nationals need Dylan Crews to live up to the hype.
That's what happens when an organization puts their faith in someone to the tune of being selected second overall in the draft.
Unlike in basketball or football, there are fewer ways for an individual player to impact a game in this sport, one of the reasons why it's so hard to gauge what prospects will turn into when they reach the Major League level.
Countless stories over the years have highlighted incredible minor league players who became duds when they reached the bigs, flaming out for a myriad of reasons that can only be pointed to as "that's baseball" for the explanation.
But the Nationals can't have that with Crews.
He is expected to be the face of the franchise alongside James Wood in the outfield, someone who will be the driving force of getting this team back into contention after their prolonged rebuild.
With all of that expectation comes pressure, but it's not something Crews hasn't dealt with before.
He represented USA Baseball twice during his amateur career, once at the 14U level and another time at the 18U. In high school, he was an Under Armour All-American and was viewed as a top draft prospect in 2020 if he were to come out.
Instead, Crews enrolled at LSU and immediately became their starting right field as a freshman, hitting 18 homers to break the freshman program record and being named an All-American and National Freshman of the Year which earned him another spot on Team USA.
Once again, he lived up to the hype, leading the Tigers to the national championship in 2023.
That pedigree would make anyone confident in their abilities, and like has been seen before, arrogant when it comes to making adjustments that are needed at the professional level.
Not Crews, though.
He has impressed every step of the way when it comes to his willingness to get better, and his teammates have taken notice.
"It's nice when you get a player like this, honestly. Going up through the minors, you deal with some prospects who aren't like that. I think it's one of the reasons he got here so fast, because he's so mature. He's able to put all that stuff behind him and just play baseball and be one of the guys," Jacob Young said per Mark Zuckerman of MASN.
Crews will still need to perform.
He's going to get every opportunity to do so this season since he's projected to be the Opening Day right fielder.
The Nationals are also going to be patient with the 23-year-old considering he was just taken in the 2023 draft and has barely any professional experience under his belt, let alone in the Majors.
Washington is also confident Crews can reach the lofty expectations that have been placed upon him.
"What he does give you — and I'll flip it to his positives – is he competes every at-bat. He competes every pitch in the field. This guy is probably as good of an IQ player as we have, and there's nothing he can't do on the field," general manager Mike Rizzo said per Zuckerman.
That's high praise, but it's nothing Crews hasn't heard before.
Zuckerman added an interesting nugget of his own when it comes to the organization's thoughts if the star prospect can reach his ceiling.
"Ask anyone in the organization if there's any reason to be concerned Crews won't ultimately live up to the hype, though, and everyone gives the same response: No," he wrote.
While talent has gotten him here, it's his mindset that could ultimately be the reason why he'll be the face of this franchise.
