Washington Nationals Superstar Prospect Predicted to Debut This Season
The Washington Nationals are trying to figure out a way to get this franchise into contention again following their incredible run when they won the World Series back in 2019.
Since that point, they decided to undergo a rebuild by shipping out multiple star players on their roster to get younger talent in return.
This has allowed them to turn their pipeline into one of the strongest in all of baseball. Many of those star prospects have now become contributors at the Major League level, signaling they could be getting close to truly competing again.
There are still holes across this roster that will need to be addressed, but ideally for the Nationals, their minor leaguers will turn into impact players that can get them back to contending for championships in the future.
One player everyone is keeping an eye on is Dylan Crews, Washington's No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft and their top ranked prospect.
The 22-year-old has already reached the Triple-A level in his first full season of professional baseball. He's slashing .257/.333/.450 with seven homers, 20 extra-base hits and 24 RBI across his 45 games at that affiliate.
Is that enough to make the Nationals promote Crews to The Show to close out the year?
Bennett Lehman of District on Deck seems to think so.
"I believe he will debut in DC by the end of the season ... I would look for Crews to debut before the end of the season, and potentially even before the end of August ... Calling him up this late in the year should allow him to retain rookie status for next season, hopefully being able to perform well and win Rookie of the Year, and award the team with a high draft pick after the first round as part of MLB's new incentives," he wrote.
If the team is going to give Crews his first taste of Major League action, it would be crazy for them not to do it at a point where he maintains his rookie status in 2025.
He'll likely be promoted during the September call-up period when rosters expand from 26 to 28 on Sept. 1. This has given teams the opportunity to get some of their top prospects ready for the next step in their careers by having them be part of their MLB group to close out the year.
It's also not a given that Washington will go this route, though.
Other players in the past have struggled when fast-tracked to the MLB too quickly, so if they feel like Crews would be better served continuing to finish out the season at Triple-A, then they could certainly decide to do that.
However, they should get a glimpse of what their outfield of the future will look like with Crews alongside James Wood, who has emerged as a star.
Calling up their top prospect to close out the year should be what the organization decides to do.
BRAD WAKAI