The Washington Nationals got their LSU guy Sunday night, selecting Tigers OF Dylan Crews with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
It wasn’t fireballing RHP Paul Skenes, as our own Grant Paulsen seemed to want, but there’s good reason: Skenes was selected first overall, the first LSU player to go No. 1 since Ben McDonald in 1989, and he and Crews are the first-ever teammates to go 1-2 in the MLB Draft.
Crews, 21, was the SEC Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year and won the Golden Spikes Award after batting .426/.567/.713 with 18 homers, 70 RBI, and an NCAA Division I lead-tying 71 walks.
His dominance started as a freshman, when he hit a chool frosh record 18 homers, led the SEC with 163 total bases, and was National Freshman of the Year – and in 2022, he hit 22 homers and won his first of back-to-back Conference Plyer of the Year Awards. He ended his three years in Baton Rouge with a .380/.498/.689 slash line in 196 games.
Crews was MLB Pipeline's top-rated prospect in the 2023 Draft, and his MLB scouting report reads:
“Crews is a plus-plus hitter with plus power and some evaluators are even more bullish on his bat. He hits the ball as hard and as consistently as any collegian, thanks to a quick right-handed stroke, the strength and leverage in his 6-foot frame and a selectively aggressive approach. After creating some mild swing-and-miss concerns last summer, he's controlling the strike zone and making contact better than ever, repeatedly hammering velocity and quality pitching. A good athlete, Crews is showing more speed than in the past, with plus run times out of the batter's box despite taking a big swing and well-above-average quickness once he gets going. He can steal an occasional base and has improved in center field, showing the ability to track down balls hit over his head. Most scouts are sold that he'll stick in center at the big league level, and at worst, he'll be an asset in right with solid arm strength.”
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