Follow the Prospects: Dylan Crews, OF

[welch]

2 for 4 with 2 RBIs tonight.

[imref]

2 for 4 with 2 RBIs tonight.

including a double

[DCsOwn]

Law's latest on Crews:

On Tuesday night I hit my last minor league game of the regular season, going to Harrisburg for their series against Bowie. Harrisburg’s roster was so loaded by this series that they didn’t have enough at-bats for everyone, but I did get Dylan Crews, the second pick in this year’s draft. Crews saw nine pitches in his first at-bat, eventually hitting a line-drive double to the right-field corner, then hitting a soft line-drive single to left in his next at-bat before a pair of groundouts. The jump over High A to Double A has been a bit much for Crews, as he’s hitting .188/.296/.261 so far in 19 games at the higher level, although I wouldn’t read too much into it.

https://theathletic.com/4870978/2023/09/18/scouting-boston-red-sox-washington-nationals/?source=emp_shared_article

[blue911]

Law's latest on Crews:

On Tuesday night I hit my last minor league game of the regular season, going to Harrisburg for their series against Bowie. Harrisburg’s roster was so loaded by this series that they didn’t have enough at-bats for everyone, but I did get Dylan Crews, the second pick in this year’s draft. Crews saw nine pitches in his first at-bat, eventually hitting a line-drive double to the right-field corner, then hitting a soft line-drive single to left in his next at-bat before a pair of groundouts. The jump over High A to Double A has been a bit much for Crews, as he’s hitting .188/.296/.261 so far in 19 games at the higher level, although I wouldn’t read too much into it.

https://theathletic.com/4870978/2023/09/18/scouting-boston-red-sox-washington-nationals/?source=emp_shared_article

Could you post Law’s write-up on Jackson Holliday?

[DCsOwn]

Could you post Law’s write-up on Jackson Holliday?

There wasn't one included in that article. These summaries are from his most recent scouting trips (which apparently didn't include any Holliday viewings).

[Slateman]

Langford promoted to Triple A

[Five Banners]

Langford promoted to Triple A

Nightmare

[imref]

Langford promoted to Triple A

.405 / .519 / .762   in AA

[imref]

Anyone else see a ton of similarity in Corbin Carroll and Dylan Crews in terms of looks / playing style (hopefully performance next year too!)

[Elvir Ovcina]

Anyone else see a ton of similarity in Corbin Carroll and Dylan Crews in terms of looks / playing style (hopefully performance next year too!)

Andrew Stevenson.

[Natsinpwc]

Andrew Stevenson.

Ouch.

[imref]

oh come on now.

[imref]

Via TalkNats:

Dylan Crews of the #Nats won the NATIONAL COLLEGIATE SLUGGER AWARD in all of D1 college baseball as the 2023 Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award (BBNCSA) before a sell-out crowd at the Fort Worth Club last night.

The award is based on performance at the plate, academics, and personal integrity.

He and the rest of the LSU baseball team got their rings tonight before the football game.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Andrew Stevenson.

 

[imref]

https://x.com/talknats/status/1728472090523672625?s=46&t=VxK4vP11aMUU5dFhz5Ltrg

[nobleisthyname]

Fangraphs has him as their #9 prospect for 2024:

FV: 60

Hit: 40/50
Raw Power: 60/60
Game Power: 45/60
Run: 60/60
Fielding: 40/55
Throw: 55

TL;DR: Crews is solid center fielder with plus opposite field power.

Crews went wire-to-wire as one of the best 2023 draft prospects, if not the best. He was the top unsigned high schooler from the 2020 class, a toolshed who swung and missed on the summer showcase circuit more than teams felt comfortable with and ended up at LSU rather than in pro ball. He was immediately dominant as a freshman there, generating exit velos in excess of 100 mph on 17 of his first 30 balls in play and finishing with a .362/.453/.663 line that included 18 bombs. He followed that up by slashing .349/.463/.691 with 22 homers as a sophomore, before hitting .420/.567/.710 with 15 bombs and more walks than strikeouts as a junior.

Crews can punish you to all fields. He’ll get extended on fastballs away from him and crush them the opposite way, or he can turn on slower pitches on the middle two-thirds of the plate and hit some titanic blasts to left. At times, the depth of Crews’ hand load will leave him late on fastballs. The bend and strength in his lower body is incredible, and he might be able to shorten up what he’s doing with his hands and still get to huge power because of how special the rest of his operation is. He’ll show you jailbreak-y, sub-4.1 run times, easily the speed to play center field, and his reads and routes (though still not great on balls hit in front of him) improved during his time in college after it first looked like he might be ticketed for right field. He sprints into the gaps with huge effort and is great at getting balls hit over his head. He should be an average big league center fielder, and his speed gives him bigger ceiling than that if his feel for the position continues to level up. Crews also does all kinds of little things well, be it procedural awareness on defense or how crisply he runs the bases. He’s tooled up and has performed at the highest level of amateur baseball for three years, a layup top-two pick in basically any draft and likely a quick-moving, impact player in pro ball.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-top-100-prospects/

[varoadking]

Have to wonder how much us taking Crews over Langford was purely Boras bluster.  I think we screwed the pooch with that one...

[Mattionals]

Have to wonder how much us taking Crews over Langford was purely Boras bluster.  I think we screwed the pooch with that one...

It's hard to say. I think both will be very impactful bats, but different. Crews is going to be more of a real CF with Langford best suited for a corner. Langford will make louder contact with more power, Crews will hit for more average. Crews will be the better base runner.

[nobleisthyname]

Crews also does all kinds of little things well, be it procedural awareness on defense or how crisply he runs the bases.

Cool to hear things like this.

[imref]

It's hard to say. I think both will be very impactful bats, but different. Crews is going to be more of a real CF with Langford best suited for a corner. Langford will make louder contact with more power, Crews will hit for more average. Crews will be the better base runner.

I don't think you'd go wrong with either pick. IIRC Langford was lights out when he first stated in the minors but struggled a bit toward the end of the season after getting called up to AAA (3 for his final 30, with 2 2Bs and 10Ks).

Crews seemed to do well at every level (ignoring that very first at bat at Fredricksburg when he fell flat on his face running to first).

[varoadking]

It's hard to say. I think both will be very impactful bats, but different. Crews is going to be more of a real CF with Langford best suited for a corner. Langford will make louder contact with more power, Crews will hit for more average. Crews will be the better base runner.

That's likely their skillsets, yes...but taking Langford would have meant that we might have a chance of keeping him long term.  With Boras, if Crews does pan out, he'll be little more than a long-term rental...

[Mattionals]

That's likely their skillsets, yes...but taking Langford would have meant that we might have a chance of keeping him long term.  With Boras, if Crews does pan out, he'll be little more than a long-term rental...

It takes two to tango. We locked up Strasburg long term.

[varoadking]

It takes two to tango. We locked up Strasburg long term.

Too long...   

[Natsinpwc]

Too long... 

First extension was good though.  Need Crews to marry a local girl who does not want to move. 

[rbw5t]

On Crews vs Lankford, I don’t think we should let 2 months of minors affect our judgment too much. Everyone’s consensus was either Skenes or Crews, and no one had Lankford top two. Saying we screwed up is both unfair hindsight and totally premature.  That will be true even if Lankford ends up a bigger star than Crews.