Let's Geaux: Dylan Crews

[imref]

He's also adjusting his batting gloves now every pitch, wonder what's happening in his head.   Harder to Nomar like this now with the pitch clock. 

Zimm did that as well

[Dave in Fairfax]

A-Rod did as well. Part of the game to get inside the pitcher's OODA loop.

[varoadking]

Has anyone won RotY while hitting below the Mendoza line...other than a pitcher that is?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

walk and an HBP is good for a guy who could be rattled by the lack of success. Also blasted one right to the wall in center. no question it's been a rough week, since the start of the Philly series. Philly put him in a funk at the start of the year, too, for the next series, then he was fine from the last game in toronto until Philly again.

[aspenbubba]

I’m thinking he needs a reset. Perhaps a month in Rochester now that the temperature is above freezing.

[varoadking]

I’m thinking he needs a reset. Perhaps a month season or two in Rochester. now that the temperature is above freezing.

FIFY...

[zimm_da_kid]

Send crews down and call up lile

[varoadking]

It’s not even May…

May:  .074/.219/.111/.330  9K's in 27AB's

[rileyn]

Guys, we have a big problem here.  This is not a drill.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

the strike outs are back up since the Mets and Phillies series. Hit a dinger then it all went south.

I'm unqualified to get into the mind of an athlete as I'm neither a psychologist nor a competitive athlete, but he seems to be pushing too hard. Maybe it's the self-image of being The Guy, but the bad decisions on diving for balls and turning them into extra base hits instead of singles, the swing decisions, etc...

On the bright side, he's really not the only stud to have this happen in April and May. Chourio and Merrill went through this last year in April and May. Maybe its the downside of the reward for RotY that's bringing these guys up a month or two too early. I know others here have said that he really did not have the track record in AAA to be ready for his call up last year. Maybe that's right? meanwhile, they've burned a year of team control.

I don't think he'd benefit from another couple months in the minors. His path forward is to play through this. But yes, it's not good.

[nobleisthyname]

Looking at the process more than just the results and the situation is not quite as dire, though still troubling.

On the positive side his expected BA and SLG are a much better .253/.446 respectively. His hard hit rate (balls hit off the bat with an exit velocity of 95mph or more) is 41.8% (compared to a league average of 36.6%) and his barrel rate (hard hit balls hit at an optimal launch angle) is an excellent 13.2% (compared to a league average of 7%). And his BABIP is only .230 which points to some bad luck he's hit into.

On the negative side however his plate discipline seems terrible, which is probably contributing to him performing below his expected stats/low BABIP. He's not walking and whiffing a ton.

There's clearly the talent here for a good ballplayer. Not sure if he's just pressing too much or if his hit tool was greatly overrated.

[imref]

from what i've seen he's had a number of hard hit balls that were caught via very good defensive plays. His babip is around .250 fwiw.

[Natsinpwc]

I felt bad the other day watching him.  First pitch was clearly outside and the ump called it a strike.  He then swung next pitch which was a strike but out good location to hit.  Grounded out weakly I think.  When in a slump everyone goes against you including the umps.  I say give him this month to straighten it out.  Not like the team is contending.  If it’s really mental then I can see Triple A. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Looking at the process more than just the results and the situation is not quite as dire, though still troubling.

On the positive side his expected BA and SLG are a much better .253/.446 respectively. His hard hit rate (balls hit off the bat with an exit velocity of 95mph or more) is 41.8% (compared to a league average of 36.6%) and his barrel rate (hard hit balls hit at an optimal launch angle) is an excellent 13.2% (compared to a league average of 7%). And his BABIP is only .230 which points to some bad luck he's hit into.

On the negative side however his plate discipline seems terrible, which is probably contributing to him performing below his expected stats/low BABIP. He's not walking and whiffing a ton.

There's clearly the talent here for a good ballplayer. Not sure if he's just pressing too much or if his hit tool was greatly overrated.

heck, I'll still stick my neck out and say I expect a very good June-September and some RotY votes. I like Tawa, Augustin Ramirez, Acuna, but there's no pitcher blowing things out so far.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

From April 1 -25, he had a 15.5 K%. the past 2 weeks, it's 35.8%.  The Mets and Phillies, division rivals, found another flaw that others are exploiting, and he's pressing.

[Slateman]

Crews will benefit from the automated strike zone. But I still stand behind my assessment that he is nothing more than Nick Markakis

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Crews will benefit from the automated strike zone. But I still stand behind my assessment that he is nothing more than Nick Markakis

don't know if Markakis hit the ball as hard as this kid. Seems faster too. Did Markakis ever steal bases in quantity as efficiently?

He had 3 seasons (out of 15) with more steals than Crews has through less than a 1/4 season this year. His second season he was 18 SBs with 6 CS, next year he was 10 and 7, and in 2011 he was 12 and 3.

[Slateman]

Can't really compare in the modern environment. Markakis played when everyone swung for homers and pitchers had unlimited pick off attempts.

Crews is coming up on 300 MLB plate appearances. He is hitting .200/.261/.328. How many players started this poorly and went on to have productive careers?

[IanRubbish]

Crews is coming up on 300 MLB plate appearances. He is hitting .200/.261/.328. How many players started this poorly and went on to have productive careers?

Spencer Torkelson, also a Boras collegiate high draft pick - 404 PAs rookie year in '22 - .203/.285/.319.  Three years later he's got an .898 OPS for Detroit.  But they let him do his natural thing, which is to be a serious pull hitter,  he gets a lot of doubles close to the 3B line, not to mention HRs near the LF pole.  We know the inept Nats coaches and manager have a bizarre issue with pulling the ball like this, so Crews will need to figure it out himself, and hope Davey and Darnell don't mess him up. 

[varoadking]

Looking at the process more than just the results and the situation is not quite as dire, though still troubling.

On the positive side his expected BA and SLG are a much better .253/.446 respectively. His hard hit rate (balls hit off the bat with an exit velocity of 95mph or more) is 41.8% (compared to a league average of 36.6%) and his barrel rate (hard hit balls hit at an optimal launch angle) is an excellent 13.2% (compared to a league average of 7%). And his BABIP is only .230 which points to some bad luck he's hit into.

On the negative side however his plate discipline seems terrible, which is probably contributing to him performing below his expected stats/low BABIP. He's not walking and whiffing a ton.

There's clearly the talent here for a good ballplayer. Not sure if he's just pressing too much or if his hit tool was greatly overrated.

In a nutshell, IMHO...

[IanRubbish]

I'm really impressed with his defense, baserunning, and overall great effort.  But he was not ready for his callup and he's not going to get the coaching he needs with Davey and Darnell. 

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

I like the kid. I think he’ll be a damn good player but I will never get over the fact the MLB totally screwed us out of Paul Skenes and handed him to an even worse owner basically because of what the orioles did.

[rileyn]

Did we ever learn why Davey had Crews hitting in the 2 hole during spring training, and then dropped him to 7th on opening day?

[imref]

Did we ever learn why Davey had Crews hitting in the 2 hole during spring training, and then dropped him to 7th on opening day?

dunno, but batting Wood 2nd is what the stat-geeks would tell you is best (since he's our best hitter)

[varoadking]

Did we ever learn why Davey had Crews hitting in the 2 hole during spring training, and then dropped him to 7th on opening day?

...and then moved him back into the 2 hole the following day?

The man is a dimwit...odds are that he doesn't know either...