Washington Nationals Hoping Their Rookie of the Year Contender Can Alter Franchise
The Washington Nationals have endured a rocky half decade since their 2019 World Series win, and that's putting it politely.
As the second-youngest team in the league, growing pains are an expected part of the process. Chances are the 2025 campaign will extend their current five-year postseason drought to six in a row.
Despite that probable reality, things are finally starting to trend in the right direction for the Nationals.
That ray of hope starts with the new face of Washington baseball.
Former Nationals Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper were both taken with the first-overall picks by Washington over a decade ago. They were two of the most highly-touted baseball prospects in recent memory, universally viewed as franchise changers.
That's what Washington needs Dylan Crews to be; the centerpiece that changes the course of the whole organization.
He has the ceiling to make that a reasonable expectation.
Crews was the second-overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, as an outfielder out of LSU. He was coming off a College World Series win with LSU while winning the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country.
Many expected Crews to be the first overall pick, but the Pittsburgh Pirates selected his college teammate, pitcher Paul Skenes, with the top choice.
Crews will turn 23 years old in a few weeks, where he'll enter his first full season as a Major Leaguer. Washington called him up in late-August last year, where he took 119 at bats over 31 games.
His production was modest, finishing with a .218/.288/.353 slash line to go along with three homers, eight RBI and a 0.6 bWAR.
It's non uncommon for premium prospects like Crews to underwhelm in their first stint in the Majors. Just a few years ago Baltimore Orioles star shortstop Gunnar Henderson had similar offensive production through his first month in The Show. He then went on to win the American League Rookie of the Year the following season.
Crews heads towards opening day in the same position, as he's still eligible to compete for the Rookie of the Year in 2025.
He is among the primary contenders alongside Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki and Chicago Cubs infielder Matt Shaw.
Sasaki has the benefit of playing for the defending champion Dodgers, so even if he has an uneven showing in terms of raw production, he's in a fantastic position to be impactful with the best team in the league.
In Shaw's case, he has a good chance to win the third base job for the Cubs before the start of the season, but his path to early playing time isn't as cemented as it is for Crews, who is already on top of the depth chart in right field for the Nationals.
When looking at historical Rookie of the Year winners in both leagues, many of the best in the game are on that list.
Crews' college teammate Skenes, won the award last season.
If Crews can win the National League Rookie of the Year in 2025, he could be the franchise-changer Washington needs going forward.
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Ryan Reynolds has worked in sports media since 2019, where he’s primarily covered the NFL. He got his start writing for Evan Silva and Adam Levitan’s Establish the Run where Ryan became an authority on NFL awards markets. Ryan recently served as an Associate Director and content headliner for former NFL executives Joe Banner and Mike Tannenbaum at The 33rd Team. Ryan has also made multiple guest appearances on Fantasy Sports Radio on SiriusXM and VSiN. Outside of sports Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, graduating with honors from the University of Minnesota. He now has nearly a decade’s worth of experience in management. You can find Ryan on X @RyanReynoldsNFL or email him at RyanReynoldsNFL@gmail.com.