Although he scuffled a bit in his first taste of Double-A after making his professional debut earlier in the summer, Dylan Crews has a bright future in fantasy thanks to his plus-plus hit tool and plus power.
Dylan Crews was widely regarded as the top position prospect in the 2023 amateur draft. He had just wrapped up a storied career with LSU, which he had capped by helping his program capture a national championship. His 2023 campaign was impressive, as he batted .426 with 18 homers, 70 RBI, 100 runs scored, and 6 steals (in 6 attempts) across 344 plate appearances. Crews commanded the dish well, with a 21% walk rate against a 13% strikeout rate. He ended up going #2 overall to the Nationals in the draft after teammate Paul Skenes.
The 21 year-old made his professional debut soon after he was drafted as he played in just one game of rookie ball in which he went 3-3 with a 2B and 3 runs scored. He then moved up to Single-A Fredericksburg where he batted .355 with 5 dingers, 24 RBI, 16 runs scored, and 1 steal (in 4 attempts) across 71 PA, with a wRC+ of 192. He used all fields, with a 29.5% pull rate, 29.5% push rate, and 41% center rate, while posting an 18.5% liner rate, 39.5% flyball rate, and 42% grounder rate. Contact was a bit of an issue as his strikeout rate came in at almost 27%. Meanwhile, Crews drew walks at a pretty average 8.5% clip. So, while the production was there, his command of the dish wasn’t stellar.
Yet, Nationals management felt that he was ready for his next task, which was Double-A as the organization had him skip High-A Wilmington. At Harrisburg, Crews truly struggled for the first time in 2023. He hit just .208 with no homers, 5 RBI, 7 runs scored, and 3 stolen bases (in 6 tries) across 85 PA, with a below-average wRC+ of 73. Encouragingly, his walk rate ticked upward to 9.5% while he slashed his strikeout rate to 22%. But Crews did not square up as many baseballs as he did in A-ball, as his liner rate dipped to 15% while his groundball rate climbed to 47% and his flyball rate came in at 38%; he also had a 20% infield-fly rate. Meanwhile, his batted-ball profile skewed toward the pull side, as he posted a 54% pull rate, 32% opposite-field rate, and 15% centerfield rate.
It would be folly to try to take too much away from a couple of small sample sizes, especially as Crews gets his first taste of professional ball. The Nationals also aggressively promoted him to Double-A even though his performance in Single-A showed some room for improvement. But despite the unimpressive strikeout and walk rates, Crews certainly showed off his hit tool until he arrived in Double-A.
The future is certainly bright for Crews, whom MLB Pipeline currently ranks as the #4 overall prospect in all of baseball behind only Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio, and Paul Skenes. Scouts rave about his combination of a plus-plus hit tool and plus power while allows him to not only make lots of contact, but consistent hard contact. There were reportedly some mild concerns about his strikeouts in 2022, but he alleviated those a bit in 2023 with better control of the strike zone while at LSU. Scouts describe his approach as selectively aggressive, which was certainly on display to good effect in college this past season. Although it’s a small sample size, his performance to date in the majors may again raise concerns about the strikeouts. Encouragingly, though, he did slash the strikeout rate in Double-A following his promotion. Crews possesses some speed that should translate to modest stolen base totals (and help to keep him in CF), but he’s not a burner and his work on he basepaths so far in professional ball has not been strong.
Overall, Crews remains one of the most exciting prospects in baseball for fantasy. While his professional debut might not have been as stellar as Wyatt Langford’s, it’s tough to knock a guy for hitting a speed bump in Double-A during his first run as a professional. Make sure he’s firmly on your radar for 2024 as he has the pedigree and tools to make an immediate impact on the majors and could very well make his big-league debut.
Photo credit: LSU Athletics.
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