How Long Will Washington Nationals Star Be Baseball’s Top Prospect?

The Washington Nationals got a nice surprise after one of their top young players moved to No. 1 overall in baseball’s prospect rankings.

Sep 5, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Dylan Crews (3) in the on-deck circle before batting against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning at PNC Park. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals have seen their top prospect Dylan Crews take over the top of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects on Wednesday.

The question now is how long will he remain there?

To graduate, players have to pass certain thresholds in the Majors. For pitchers, that is typically 50 innings pitched. For hitters, it’s usually 130 at-bats.

Crews has 54 at-bats after his 2-for-4 performance against Atlanta on Wednesday.

Washington has 17 games left this season. Assuming Crews gets four official at-bats in each contest, that would bring him to 122 at-bats, which would put him just under the threshold.

That doesn’t take into account potential off-days for him down the stretch.

Given the numbers, there’s a fair chance Crews will remain the No. 1 prospect in baseball during the offseason. It would also mean he would retain rookie status in 2025, making him eligible for National League Rookie of the Year honors.

In 14 games this season, he has a slash line of .222/.295/.444/.739 with three home runs and seven RBI. He’s also hit three doubles.

When Crews was called up to the Majors, he was already the Nationals’ No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline ranked him at No. 4. He is part of a large group of young players currently playing with Washington and was part of a recent starting lineup that featured seven rookies, a franchise first.

The Nationals selected Crews No. 2 overall out of LSU and signed him to a $9 million signing bonus.

Last year, he batted .426 with 18 homers, 70 RBI and 100 runs as he helped lead LSU to the 2023 Men's College World Series championship. He was also selected an All-American and the winner of the Golden Spikes Award as college baseball’s best player.

He started this season at Double-A Harrisburg and was eventually promoted to Rochester.

In 100 games, he slashed .270/.342/.451/.793 with 13 home runs and 68 RBI. Along the way, MLB Pipeline ranked him as baseball’s No. 3 prospect. He was also selected to play in the MLB Futures Game in July during All-Star Game weekend.

After he was selected the Nationals got him a head start in the minors as he played for three different affiliates, including Harrisburg in 35 games he slashed .292/.377/.467/.844 with five home runs and 29 RBI.