Nationals Fans Will Love Who Team's 2026 Breakout Player Is Predicted To Be

This should excite Washington Nationals fans.

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2025 was a tale of two halves when it came to breakout players for the Washington Nationals.

In the first half, James Wood was sensational. The rising star slashed .278/.381/.534 with 24 homers and 69 RBIs. That earned him an All-Star nod and an invite to the Home Run Derby. But he cooled off in the second half, and that made way for Daylen Lile's electric close to the year.

Now, both players are expected to be key pieces on the roster during the upcoming season. And that creates an exciting outlook for the outfield that projects to be a major strength of this team throughout 2026.

The Nationals would have loved to see Dylan Crews be part of that group who broke out last year, but injuries and poor numbers at the plate largely held him back from achieving that. That's why this fanbase should be excited about the former second overall pick being selected as the team's possible breakout star for the 2026 campaign, per Jessica Camerato of MLB.com.

Best Is Yet to Come for Dylan Crews

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It's well documented that Crews hasn't had success at the major league level like many expected. But it's also way too early to give up on him at this stage of his career. The hope is that with this new regime taking over, they will maximize what the talented player can accomplish.

That's why Camerato highlighted the 23-year-old as someone who could be the Nationals' breakout player of 2026, with her writing, "Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 Draft out of LSU, was limited to just 85 games in his first full Major League season because of an oblique strain. When in the lineup, Crews slashed .208/.280/.352 with a .632 OPS. He tallied eight doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 27 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. At the Winter Meetings, newly hired manager Blake Butera said, 'I think the world of Dylan. ... What we saw last year was not the Dylan Crews we know.'"

Dylan Crews blasts a 3-run shot 💥 pic.twitter.com/XCCWwpuzlc

— MLB (@MLB) May 18, 2025

Crews has had success throughout the entire path of his baseball journey, so it has been strange to see him struggle the way he has in the MLB. However, his pedigree suggests he's going to figure it out and become a big time player for Washington, which would be a huge boon for this franchise.

Underlying metrics weren't favorable for Crews last season. His lack of games due to injury prevented him from officially qualifying across the Baseball Savant spectrum. But he was below average across the board in important statistics like hard hit rate, chase percentage, whiff rate and strikeout percentage. One thing he did at an above average level was bat speed, while he was right around average when it came to barrel rate and average exit velocity.

Improving across the board in many of those areas will be important if the 23-year-old is ever going to reach his offensive ceiling. Many evaluators believe that will happen at some point, and it could come as early as this upcoming season.