Washington Nationals Rookie Hits Several MLB Firsts in Second Career Game
After he went hitless in his first Major League game on Monday, Washington Nationals rookie Dylan Crews achieved several firsts in the second time of his career on Tuesday against the New York Yankees.
The Nationals moved Crews down to No. 7 in the order after he went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first game on Monday.
Perhaps the drop in the order made him a bit more comfortable than hitting second on Monday. In his first plate appearance in the second inning he doubled to left field for his first MLB hit, advancing José Tena to third base.
Who he claimed that hit off of was notable, too. The Yankees started reigning Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Crews became the third player in Nationals history (since 2005) to get his first MLB hit off a Cy Young winner. The other two were Blake Treinen (vs. Clayton Kershaw on May 6, 2014) and Beltran Perez (vs. Tom Glavine on Sept. 25, 2006).
DYLAN CREWS. FIRST MLB HIT. IS A DOUBLE. pic.twitter.com/4le3gruCBx
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 27, 2024
In addition, Crews is Washington’s first player to slug an extra-base hit against a Cy Young winner for his first career hit.
Plus, the Crews family was there to celebrate it.
WHOLE CREWS ROCKIN ON DYLAN'S 1ST MLB HIT
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 28, 2024
🥲 pic.twitter.com/UHWXO7M3mt
In the sixth, Crews collected his second hit, a soft grounder that he beat out at first base. But, Yankees catcher Jose Trevino tried to throw him out and, after his throw turned into an error, Crews showed his hustle to take second base.
crews control WAAY up pic.twitter.com/bvHmCV5hpK
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 28, 2024
Then came his next milestone — his first career stolen base.
He beat out Trevino’s throw and later scored his first career run after Joey Gallo reached first base on a fielding error.
Crews ended the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and now has a MLB batting average of .286 with an OPS of .804.
He is just the latest young player the Nationals have called up this season. He’s 13 months removed from being the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, as the Nationals selected him out of LSU after a standout career.
That career led Washington sign him to a $9 million bonus after Crews took LSU to a national title last season as he was 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.
