Washington Nationals Rookie's Rise Means Fixing This Glaring Weakness
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There are a lot of reasons for Washington Nationals fans to be excited about what the future holds.
The roster is full of young players with immense potential and there are two more waves of prospects knocking on the door of the Major Leagues. With one of the best emerging foundations in the sport, it shouldn’t be long before the team is out of their rebuild.
One of the players whom the franchise is hoping becomes a long-term piece to build around is Dylan Crews.
The No. 2 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft wasted no time being promoted to the Big Leagues, playing only 135 minor league contests before getting the call up.
A unanimous top 10 prospect entering the 2024 campaign, he is in the same spot heading into this season and rightfully so.
Crews is overflowing with potential as a future All-Star that is a legitimate five-tool player. He has all of the bat-to-ball skills to succeed, some pop, good speed and is no slouch defensively in right field.
The numbers from his debut season may not show that, as he had a .219/.288/.353 slash line with three home runs, five doubles and one triple. He did add 12 stolen bases as well.
But, there was a lot to be encouraged by when taking a deeper dive into his advanced statistics.
He has a great grasp of the strike zone, recording a below-average strikeout rate and above-average walk rate. His average exit velocity of 89 mph was just above average and his hard-hit rate of 45.2% was very strong.
Once he adjusts to Major League pitching, his poor ground ball rate of 56.4% will start regressing to the mean, resulting in better numbers across his stat line.
Being able to recognize the pitches being thrown will also help take his game to another level.
As Jeff Passan of ESPN+ (paid subscription required) shared, the former No. 2 pick struggled mightily when facing breaking balls. Out of the 520 pitches that were thrown to him in 2024, 196 of them were breaking pitches.
“Considering what he did on those pitches -- going just 4-for-41 -- he's likely to see even more spin until he proves he can hit it. Crews' whiff rate on curveballs and sliders is higher than league average but not alarming. His propensity to take spin for strikes suggests he's not seeing curveballs and sliders particularly well. If the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft can remedy that, a breakout campaign won't be far behind,” the MLB insider wrote.
Lacking in professional experience, Crews just needs reps to remedy some of the obstacles that he faced duing his first taste of the Major League level.
All the tools to succeed and turn into the All-Star level contributor Washington is hoping he can be are there.
