It has been a brutal month of August for the Washington Nationals on multiple fronts. They lost key players to trades, James Wood got hurt and the losses have been piling up. However, Dylan Crews’ miserable play of late is another factor in the Nats struggles. When the team needed him most, Crews has been woefully ineffective.
After losing James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead, the Nats needed guys to step up in order to pick up the slack. Abimelec Ortiz has done his part, bursting onto the scene.
Brady House has not been perfect, but his .258 average and .704 OPS is acceptable.
However, Crews has not held up his end of the bargain. The Nats were clearly relying on him to do that and you can see that in where they put him in the lineup. Against lefties, Crews has been leading off and even against righties, he often hits third. Despite that faith, Crews is just 8 for 57 in August.
It is yet another disappointing chapter in a wildly frustrating Nationals career for the former second overall pick. One thing that makes it even worse is the fact that Crews was coming off one of the best months of his career. In July he posted an .801 OPS and walked 14 times. It sure seems like that plate discipline was a mirage because outside of August he has just 7 walks all season.
The biggest problem for Dylan Crews this season is the combination of chasing and whiffing. In 2026, Crews has a 32.8% chase rate and 30.6% whiff rate. Both of those numbers are well below average. It leads to him having to fight an uphill battle.
Coming into the season, one of the biggest issues Crews had was his ground ball heavy profile. This season, he has actually gotten a lot better at elevating the ball, cutting his GB% from 50.2% to 38.5%. Unfortunately, a lot of these flyballs are to straightaway centerfield, making it harder to clear the fences. With all the athletic center fielders in the game, getting hits up the middle is now harder than ever.
He still has some issues with his batted ball profile, but I think the biggest problem is his swing decisions. Crews just throws away too many at bats, especially in big moments where he knows he has to do something. Against the Mets there was an at bat where he struck out on 7 pitches and not a single one of them was in the strike zone.
That at bat sums up the Dylan Crews experience for me. He has the talent to be a good player, but everything seems to be moving too fast for him at the plate. You can see that with how often he falls behind 0-2. Whenever you watch Crews, you see a hitter on the defensive.
With this season’s playoff hopes being gone, this should serve as an audition period for Crews. Unless he heats up significantly down the stretch, his spot on the team should not be secure. Right now, he is the fourth best outfielder on this team behind James Wood, Jacob Young and Daylen Lile.
At the moment, he is closer to the likes of Andrew Pinckney and Sam Petersen than being the star fans thought they were getting. I still think there is a talented player in Crews, and he is a guy who could be a late bloomer. He has the exit velocities, athleticism and defense to be a good player. However, the bat leaves so much to be desired.
Is it possible that Crews becomes the next Jordan Walker type breakout star? I suppose, but it is certainly not something I would be on. It is more likely that he is an athletic fourth outfielder who plays against left handed pitching. That can be a useful piece to a roster, but a massive disappointment given his pedigree.
Things can change quickly, but right now it just feels like things are over for Crews in DC. If you can get something worthwhile or even package him with other pieces to get a pitcher, it is something I would absolutely do. I have some hope for Dylan Crews, but I no longer have any real belief in him.
