Kris Kline saw every top hitter in the country this season. He drafted the best of them in Dylan Crews, the Golden Spikes Award winner selected by the Nationals with the No. 2 overall pick Sunday evening.
And it’s quite possible the Nats’ longtime vice president of scouting was even more impressed in some ways with the hitter he selected in the second round of the draft several hours later.
"One of the loudest bats I heard this year," Kline said of University of Miami third baseman Yohandy Morales. "We were pretty happy with that one, to get him at 40."
As much attention was given to the Nationals’ first-round pick - and rightfully so given the talent available and the significance of that selection - internally, club officials believed their second-round pick was going to be just as important to the franchise. Though they lost the No. 1 overall pick to the Pirates via the new draft lottery, they still maintain the first choice for every other round based on their worst-in-baseball record in 2022.
"When you're picking that high (in the first round), it takes care of itself," Kline said. "A lot of the work, most of the work actually, went into pick 40."