MLB Execs See Washington Nationals Young Star As Clear Rookie of the Year Favorite
The Washington Nationals are in the throws of what has been a long and painful rebuild since winning their first World Series title in 2019.
Since the triumph, the Nationals have finished dead last in the division in four of the last five years and have not been back to the playoffs since.
But after things bottomed out with a 55-win season in 2022, Washington landed a player in the 2023 draft who may just be the future of the franchise in No. 2 overall selection Dylan Crews.
The top prospect in baseball made his debut last year, and in his 31 games at the MLB level, he started to show his potential.
Expected to be in the starting lineup on Opening Day, the hype around Crews is starting to build.
According to responses from all 30 teams as to who they expect to win the Rookie of the Year award, Crews was overwhelmingly selected as the favorite in the National League, detailed in a recent article from Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
"This vote left little question," he wrote. "Crews is the clear favorite to win the award in the National League in 2025. He had a solid 2024 season in the Minors and got his feet wet over 31 games in the big leagues. He should be the Nats’ right fielder on Opening Day."
Crews received a staggering 50% of the vote from a wide variety surveyed including front office executives, scouting departments, general managers, and more.
Nobody else cleared 20%, with Chicago Cubs infielder Matt Shaw coming in second place at 18.8%.
Though he has only really had one full season in the minor leagues, Crews handled the transition well.
After a huge debut campaign in 35 games across rookie ball, Single-A, and Double-A, Crews began 2024 in Double-A.
Across100 games played at the Double and Triple-A levels this past year before getting promoted to Washington, the slugger hit .270 with an OPS of .792 along with 13 home runs and 68 RBI.
Though his numbers weren't mind blowing, there's a ton of optimism that Crews is going to be able to figure it out as he goes while facing MLB pitching. He's already proven to be a force on the base baths with 12 stolen bases in the 31 big league games, but now he will be asked to take the next step this season.
If he can perform as advertised in 2025, it will go a long way towards getting the Nationals out of the basement of the NL East.
