Our own Grant Paulsen breaking some Nats news just before his show Friday: top Nationals prospect Dylan Crews is expected to be called up Monday, just in time to see the Nats face the Yankees at Nationals Park.
As Grant put it: “Crews and Wood, together at Nationals Park for the first time, opposing Juan Soto and the Yankees.”
Crews, the No. 2 overall pick last summer and a consensus Top 10 prospect in baseball this season, has played 99 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester through Thursday night, slashing .272/.343/.456 with 13 homers, 68 RBI, 25 steals, 21 doubles, and 60 runs scored.
“It’s telling how eerily similar his stats are at both levels – it’s like someone throwing two darts to try to hit a bullseye and hitting the same spot,” Danny Rouhier said on air shortly after Grant broke the news. “What it tells you is each level has not been too much for him. There’s an initial adjustment at every level, but he adjusts and starts to rise to the top.”
He follows James Wood, who made his MLB debut July 1, as top prospects to finally make the Majors, and this is what GM Mike Rizzo said just two weeks ago with the Junkies when asked about Crews:
“I don't put any timetable on when we bring up guys. We always say when they're ready to come up we're gonna bring them up. He's a helluva player, he's learning the ropes at the Triple-A level, we really like the fact that he's increased his walk ratio and decreased his strikeout ratio. That was a goal we set when we moved him to Triple-A, so he's well on his way to achieving that. He's just an all-around really good player."
The Nationals have an open spot on the 40-man roster but will have to make a 26-man move, as rosters do not expand until Sept. 1.