After nearly 3 months on the IL with an oblique injury, Dylan Crews made his return to the Nationals lineup on August 14th against the Philadelphia Phillies, where he went 1-4, stealing a base and drawing a walk. Of everything that fans could’ve hoped for in his return, a walk was pretty high up the list, as in his 173 plate appearances before his injury, Crews wasn’t showing off much of the plate discipline and contact ability that made him such a force at LSU, walking just 6.4% of the time and striking
out 27.7% of the time. He had begun to heat up before the injury, hitting home runs in the last 2 games before it, and fans were just hoping to see him keep it going in his return.
How has Crews looked in his return to the lineup? It’s tough to say. On the bright side, his approach looks much improved, walking 11.8% of the time and striking out 17.6% of the time in his 51 plate appearances since returning, a much-improved BB/K ratio than where he was prior. He’s also hit 3 doubles in that time, already better than the 2 he hit in his first stint in 2025.
While the approach has improved for Crews since returning, the results and the batted ball numbers have not. His slugging has dipped from .354 in the first stint to .295 in his second stint, and he’s yet to put a ball over the fence in his 13 games since returning. His average exit velocity has dipped from 90.1 MPH to 88.8 MPH (a number that may stabilize with a larger at-bat sample size, potentially), and he’s hitting the ball on the ground way more than before, with a GB/FB ratio over 2. Crews’ BABIP has been relatively low compared to his batted ball numbers all season, but that is because he hits too many ground balls, a common occurrence for many hitters in the Nationals lineup. He’s also on a cold streak resembling his beginning of the year one right now, as he’s 1-20 with a single and 2 walks in his last 5 games, including 0 hits in his last 18 at-bats.
So is it time to panic about Dylan Crews? Not yet, but it’s time to lower expectations on his ceiling as a hitter. Through 89 games at the big league level now, he has posted a 75 wRC+, a 0.34 BB/K ratio, and a .278 OBP. The last time he truly dominated at any level was as a 21-year-old in Low-A, and he’s only been just above average at the Triple-A level, posting a 107 wRC+ there in 49 games in 2024 and a 92 wRC+ there in 13 rehab games in 2025. Patience is absolutely needed, and Crews will be given every opportunity to prove himself, but tweaks will need to be made by the new coaching staff in 2026 to unlock more than what Crews is showing now. Even if he only turns out to be an above-average bat, not the all-star level or better one fans anticipated when he was selected 2nd overall in 2023, he’ll still be a dynamic regular in the lineup thanks to his great defense and baserunning.
