After a very slow start, Dylan Crews is beginning to show signs of life at the plate
One of the biggest stories of the Nationals first week was Dylan Crews’ very slow start. The former number two overall pick looked lost at the plate. He hit rock bottom when he struck out in eight straight at bats.
The numbers are still not pretty, but Crews is beginning to make contact and collect base hits. Crews has had multi-hit games in two of his last three games. He was also robbed of a hit by the scorekeeper the other night, who strangely called what seemed to be an RBI hit an error.
Regardless of the results, the process is looking better. Crews looks more relaxed at the plate and is not overthinking things. Granted, all of his hits have been singles so far, but you have to start somewhere. He has been spamming base hits up the middle the last couple nights, a sign of a hitter beginning to see it well.
Coming into the season, it seemed like the book was out on Crews. The plan for pitchers was to spin him to death. In his brief big league stint last year, Crews had a batting average below .100 against breaking balls. Pitchers knew that and so did Dylan.
Ironically enough, three of his five hits this season have come on breaking balls. However, he is now struggling a bit with the heater. The hitter vs pitcher matchup is a game of cat and mouse, and for the first time, it finally seems like the game is being played on Crews’ terms.
The next step for Dylan is to begin driving balls for extra base hits. We know Crews has the power to do damage, it is all about tapping into that pop. Right now the ground ball base hits are fine, but hopefully those become doubles into the gap once Crews really gets going.
Now that Dylan is settled, he should be more comfortable hunting mistakes and looking to yank balls into the left field seats. Crews is also going to be a dynamic weapon on the base paths. He has 95th percentile sprint speed and looks comfortable swiping bags.
For Crews, it is all about playing within himself. When he was struggling, you could really see him tense up. Now, he looks much more loose and looks like he is having fun. Davey Martinez has stuck by his young outfielder through the struggles, and it looks like it is paying off.
With his numbers still very poor, Crews is not out of the woods yet. However, he looks ready to finally explode. Luckily for him, fellow rookies like Matt Shaw and Roki Sasaki have also struggled out of the gate, so that Rookie of the Year crown in still attainable.
I love the way Crews plays the game. He runs everything out and plays with a lot of passion. It may sound cliche, but he just looks like a ball player. Now it is time for him to show why he was so highly touted coming out of LSU. The Nats spent the number two pick on him and he is a big part of their future. Dylan Crews has to get going, and I think he will.