Dylan Crews has added another milestone to his already-outstanding year after being selected with the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2023 MLB draft on Sunday.
With the Pittsburgh Pirates taking Paul Skenes with the No. 1 overall pick, LSU made history on Sunday night:
Bob Nightengale @BNightengale
So LSU becomes the first school in history to have two player go 1-2 in the MLB Draft
The 21-year-old Crews is fresh off leading LSU to a national title with a victory over Florida in the College World Series final. He won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s best player for stellar junior season.
Crews tied for third in the nation in batting average (.426), ranked second in on-base percentage (.567), tied for 39th in slugging percentage (.713) and reached based in all 75 games this season. He had 71 walks to 46 strikeouts in 344 plate appearances playing primarily against SEC competition.
In the race for the best overall player in this year’s draft class, Crews stood out from the pack because of his dominant performance with the bat and potential to remain a centerfielder in professional baseball.
MLB.com ranked Crews as the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 draft, citing him to be a “plus-plus hitter with plus power and some evaluators are even more bullish on his bat.”
While this season was the best of Crews’ career, he performed at a consistently high level throughout his three years at LSU. He hit .362/.453/.663 as a freshman in 2021 and followed that up with a .349/.463/.691 slash line and a career-high 22 homers during his sophomore season.
The Athletic’s Keith Law, who also had Crews ranked as the best prospect in this class, noted he had the potential to be a first-round pick coming out of high school before a slow start to his junior year.
Crews wound up withdrawing from the 2020 draft to go to LSU. He turned out to be one of the best players in school history, joining Ben McDonald (1989) as the only Tigers’ players to win the Golden Spikes Award.
The Nationals are a franchise that has been trying to find its way back to relevance since winning the World Series in 2019.
Since that championship season, they have lost Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto. Stephen Strasburg’s career is in serious jeopardy due to a series of injuries and setbacks that have limited him to eight starts since 2020.
Washington’s farm system is improving thanks to its recent drafts and returns from the Soto and Turner/Scherzer trades, but the addition of Crews gives the organization a potential cornerstone player who can be the team’s best hitter since Soto.
Crews’ advanced hitting ability should allow him to move through the minors quickly. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him in Washington’s outfield at some point in 2024.
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