After a surprising demotion in spring training, the former No. 2 pick has worked hard to improve his game.
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Dylan Crews has been here before, making his MLB debut almost two years ago. But when he returned to Nationals Park on Tuesday for the first time this season, it was different.
That’s because this time, Crews had to work for it. For the first time in his professional career, the former Louisiana State University star and second overall pick experienced failure. He performed poorly at the end of last season and in spring training, where he went 3 for 29. The Washington Nationals optioned him to Class AAA Rochester to start the season, wanting to give him a chance to make the necessary adjustments away from the spotlight so when they brought him back, he would be able to sustain long-term success.
On Tuesday, content with the progress he’s made, the Nationals called him back up ahead of their thrilling 9-6 win over the Mets.
“It’s a great feeling coming back here,” he said before the game. “It makes you realize it’s special being here.”
Crews went 1 for 4 in the win. James Wood, another former top prospect, stole the attention away in Crews’s return, hitting an inside-the-park grand slam in the second inning, just the second in Nationals history and the first grand slam of Wood’s career.
The ball carried 379 feet to left-center, where it bounced off Nick Morabito’s glove at the wall and kicked to center field. It was then that Wood kicked up the speed as he realized what was in reach. It took him just 15.1 seconds to round the bases.
“I was hyped,” Wood said. “Everyone was hyped. It was fun, everyone was celebrating.”
The Nationals, who were losing 5-0 at the time after Foster Griffin struggled in the first two innings, were suddenly down by just one run.
“It changes the entire momentum, the entire feeling in the dugout,” Manager Blake Butera said. “It’s probably the biggest smile I’ve seen on his face since I’ve gotten to know him. I don’t think he could believe what just happened.”
While Wood couldn’t hit it out of the park this time, José Tena could. He hit a home run an inning later to tie the game. The Nationals also took advantage of the Mets’ mistakes, as three of their runs were unearned.
While one former top prospect returned to the majors, another headed down. Brady House was optioned to Rochester on Tuesday. As with Crews, the Nationals see House as a major part of the team moving forward. But he needs to work on hitting right-handed pitching — he’s batting .174 against righties vs. .354 against lefties — and on improving his defense: His eight errors are tied for the MLB lead.
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“It’s crummy making the decision because he actually can really help this team right now,” said Paul Toboni, president of baseball operations for the Nationals. “We don’t think it’s in Brady’s long-term interest, at least right now, to have him be playing just on the short side of the platoon just against lefties.”
Joey Wiemer was also sent down to clear a spot in the outfield for Crews. Andrés Chaparro was recalled and is expected to play mainly first base against lefties. Curtis Mead will start in House’s place at third against lefties, with Jorbit Vivas and Tena splitting the duties against righties.
Crews will rotate between the three outfield positions, giving Wood and Daylen Lile a day off their feet when needed. Crews played center field Tuesday in place of Jacob Young, who suffered a rib contusion Monday.
To get back to the majors, Crews needed to cut down his chase rate and get back to hitting the ball hard. He changed his approach, standing a little taller now so he’s not getting into his legs as much, and his routine. It’s not fancy, he said, but it’s working, and he’s been able to replicate it every day.
As he fought through the kinks, he learned to embrace the small wins. Earlier in his life, a hard-hit line drive or sacrifice fly wouldn’t have been anything to celebrate. But if he could stack good days, he learned, slowly things would start to turn his way. It also helped his confidence, he said.
“This game will beat you down, and you have to figure out ways to get back up,” he said. “One day at a time, that’s the main focus.”
After the Nationals optioned him at the end of spring training, they promised they wouldn’t let him rot in AAA. Hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, assistant hitting coach Shawn O’Malley, Butera and Toboni communicated with him daily, talking through what he needed to work on and giving him space to inject his own thoughts and ideas.
“There’s a lot of pressure that comes with being a top overall pick,” Toboni said. “Getting sent to AAA, you feel like eyes are on you. Dylan has been nothing short of amazing.”
Over the past three weeks, things finally started to click for Crews. He hit .308 and slugged .585 in his last 17 games at Rochester, with a strikeout rate of 22.5 percent, far lower than it was earlier in the season. The numbers “under the hood,” Toboni said, have also improved.
Now that he’s back in the majors, the Nationals want Crews to just be himself. They know the pressure he’s under, and that it’s probably never going to go away. But as they told Crews this afternoon, the Nationals don’t need him to be a savior. They already have one of MLB’s best offenses, with Wood and Co. continuing to mash. Crews, they hope, will only make them better.
“He can just be Dylan Crews, and it’s a really good player,” Toboni said. “Just be yourself, we’ve got some really good pieces around him that will obviously help make this offense great.”
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