Crews generated some first-round buzz as a Florida high schooler in 2020 but ultimately withdrew from the Draft and has had a decorated career at Louisiana State. He led the Southeastern Conference with 163 total bases, set a school freshman record with 18 homers and earned National Freshman of the Year recognition in 2021. He encored by swatting 22 homers, sharing SEC player of the year honors and playing for the U.S. Collegiate National Team for a second straight summer before having his best season yet in 2023. He led the Tigers to the College World Series championship, won the Golden Spikes Award and repeated as SEC player of the year while batting .426/.567/.713 and tying for the NCAA Division I lead with 71 walks.
MLB Pipeline's top-rated position player in the 2023 Draft, 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.
A three-year performer in Baton Rouge, Crews enjoyed one of the most decorated careers in LSU baseball history, nabbing SEC Co-Player of the Year honors in 2022. He then won the award outright along with the Golden Spikes Award a year later as he led the Tigers to the 2023 Men's College World Series title. He ranked among the Division I leaders in average (.426, fourth), OBP (.567, second), OPS (1.280, 11th), hits (110, second) and walks (71, first) over 71 games, all while cutting his strikeout rate from 18.2 percent as a sophomore to 13.4 as a junior. The Nationals snagged Crews with the second overall pick in July and signed him for $9 million, the second-highest bonus in Draft history. He ended the season at Double-A Harrisburg, where he started to show fatigue from the long spring and summer.
Crews thrust himself into the conversation as the top talent in the 2023 Draft on the strength of his improved plate discipline in college, rarely going outside the zone while teeing off on the pitches he could drive (particularly fastballs). He struggled a little more with offspeed stuff on the pro side, but his ability to adjust during his time as LSU speaks well to his chances of improvement in his first full season and beyond. Batting from a well-coiled right-handed stance, Crews packs at least plus power in his 6-foot frame.
A plus runner, Crews doesn’t have a history of stealing bags, but he can make defenses think twice once he gets moving. He has the athleticism to stick in center field, but the former Bayou Bengal saw some time in the corners in Harrisburg as he joined a roster with James Wood and Robert Hassell III. His bat should play anywhere in Washington’s dream of a homegrown outfield.
Crews generated some first-round buzz as a Florida high schooler in 2020 but ultimately withdrew from the Draft and had a decorated career at Louisiana State. He led the Southeastern Conference with 163 total bases, set a school freshman record with 18 homers and earned National Freshman of the Year recognition in 2021. He encored by swatting 22 homers, sharing SEC player of the year honors and playing for the U.S. Collegiate National Team for a second straight summer before having his best season yet in 2023. He led the Tigers to the College World Series championship, won the Golden Spikes Award and repeated as SEC player of the year while batting .426/.567/.713 and tying for the NCAA Division I lead with 71 walks. The Nationals picked him second overall and signed him for $9 million, the second-highest bonus in Draft history.
MLB Pipeline's top-rated position player in the 2023 Draft, Crews is a plus-plus hitter with plus power, and some evaluators are even more bullish on his bat. He hit 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.
In 2015, Lake Mary High School outside of Orlando produced the top high school talent in the Draft. That June, Brendan Rodgers went No. 3 overall to the Colorado Rockies. Crews has the chance to be the next product from the school to go high in the Draft, though a summer in which he didn't live up to expectations has impacted his stock a bit.
When Crews is at his best, he can hit for average and power. When he's on time with his swing, he centers the ball well and makes hard contact. There's good bat speed with a short swing and more than enough strength in his fairly physically mature frame to produce solid power. He's willing to see a lot of pitches and draw walks, though he struggled to make contact at times over the summer. While there isn't a ton of projection for Crews, he has become a better athlete and is a solid average runner who runs the bases well.
Crews does play center field and is a very good defender with an above-average arm, though many scouts see a future in an outfield corner for him. That does put more pressure on his bat and the LSU recruit did not show that much more offensively during his brief senior year to move back up boards.
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2024
3
3
3
5
4
4
6
4
6
3
4
6
3
3
6
3
3
4
5
6
4
6
6
4
3
4
4
3
4
5
4
Player
3
3
3
5
4
4
6
4
6
3
4
6
3
3
6
3
3
4
5
6
4
6
6
4
3
4
4
3
4
5
4
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about how positioning is defined here