Washington Nationals Star Rookie Finally Breaks Through in Crucial Win

A key Washington Nationals rookie was locked in a lengthy slump, but a two-homer game in a big win could finally be the breakthrough he needs to get going.

Apr 19, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews (3) runs the bases after his second home run of the game during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The 2025 season was off to a brutal start for Washington Nationals rookie outfielder Dylan Crews.

Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, made the team's Opening Day roster out of spring training and was expected to join forces with James Wood and CJ Abrams to lead a young, potent Nationals lineup.

Instead, the other two got off to smoldering starts while Crews sputtered.

The 23-year-old outfielder currently owns a slash line of .177/.215/.290, all quite subpar marks in their respective categories.

But those are all marked improvements from where they were before Saturday's high-scoring 12-11 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

Crews crushed his first two home runs of the season in the win, one in which MLB's worst bullpen nearly squandered a massive lead, meaning the Nationals needed every run they could muster to snap a two-game skid.

Dylan Crews gets the @Nationals on the board with his first blast of the season! pic.twitter.com/gMv8eH2fk8

— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2025

Crews smoked his first home run of the game and season in the second inning against Rockies starter Chase Dollander, the No. 23 prospect in the MLB Pipeline Top 100 and his draft classmate, as Dollander went No. 9 overall in 2023.

The homer came on a 2-0 cutter that Crews took 407 feet the other way to right center field at an exit velocity of 102.5 mph.

Having given his team a 2-0 lead, Crews followed it up with another opposite field blast in the fifth, this time extending Washignton's lead to 9-2 with a 428-foot blast that left the bat at 108.4 mph.

Have a day, Dylan Crews!

He crushes his 2nd homer of the game 💪 pic.twitter.com/VWArMnqkGa

— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2025

Crews also doubled and reached on an error in the win, one the Nationals hope could jumpstart their promising young rookie and really help this offense build some momentum.

Dream starts by Wood, Abrams and Keibert Ruiz have been blunted by an injury to Abrams and a recent slump for Ruiz, leaving Wood, Alex Call and Nathaniel Lowe as the team's lone hot bats of late.

With the state of the bullpen, Washington will need a lot of high-output games offensively, and a resurgent Crews would do a lot to lengthen the team's lineup and add another true threat.

The LSU product had a solid spring training with an OPS of .730. The hope was that he'd be able to carry over that level to the regular season, but that has not been the case so far.

Crews' offensive ceiling is rivaled only by a few of his peers age-wise, and the Nationals could quickly become one of the more imposing lineups in the league if he can find it in 2025.