Crews' star-studded debut will be something to see

ATLANTA – James Wood hasn’t been a big leaguer long enough to offer much advice to anyone, but he has been a big leaguer long enough to share some words of wisdom with Dylan Crews as the latter prepares to debut tonight for the Nationals.

“I remember it was a lot, in a good way,” Wood said of his first major league game just eight short weeks ago. “You’ve just kind of got to take it all in. You only get one of them. I’d just tell him to enjoy it.”

There are no shortage of similarities between the two events. Each highly rated outfield prospect will have debuted on a Monday night. Each in the first game of a weeklong homestand. Each against a team that hails from New York.

Here’s the biggest difference for Crews: His debut is coming against the Yankees, with Juan Soto (and, oh yeah, Aaron Judge) in the other dugout.

As far as star-studded debuts, this is about as big as it gets. Bryce Harper played his first big league game at Dodger Stadium, with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, but the most notable Dodger on the field that night in 2012 was Matt Kemp. Strasburg’s 2010 debut was perhaps the most hyped in history, but it came against an inferior Pirates club that had a young Andrew McCutchen leading off and – believe it or not – Lastings Milledge batting third.

Wood’s debut July 1 was against the Mets, and it turned into a wild, extra-inning loss, but the 21-year-old unquestionably was the center of attention that night before a spirited-but-hardly-sellout crowd of 26,719.

So this is going to be different. But if there’s anyone who seems equipped to handle this kind of spotlight, it’s Crews. Sure, it was college, but his games at LSU were big-time events, as was the College World Series he helped the Tigers win. He had attention on him last summer in Fredericksburg and Harrisburg, then again this season in Harrisburg and Rochester, not to mention last month at the All-Star Futures Game in Texas.

“He’s played at a high level, but there’s still that adjustment,” manager Davey Martinez cautioned. “It’s the preparation to play every day, and finding a routine. He did it, and he did it really well. He went from Double-A, where he did really well, to Triple-A, and has really done well there.”

Crews – whose promotion to Washington will be officially announced today after the Nationals optioned catcher Riley Adams to Rochester following Sunday’s game – is expected to start in right field tonight. Martinez may stick with tradition and insert him somewhere in the lower half of the batting order, but as with Wood it probably won’t take long to bump him up somewhere near the top, maybe even the leadoff spot.

Playing right field for the Yankees, of course, will be Soto, and the symbolism of that won’t be lost on anyone. The former Nationals star has been back to D.C. twice since he was traded for Wood and five others in 2022, but this is the first time he’s coming back as a Yankee. And it’s the first time he’s coming back as a pending free agent, with speculation rampant about which franchise he’ll finally select for his long-term home this winter.

You can opine whether the Nats should try to bring Soto back in 2025 or not, and whether he’d want to return or stay in the Bronx or go someplace else, but Crews’ performance over the next five weeks may play role in the ultimate answer to the question. If he’s everything he’s supposed to be, and if Wood continues what he’s done and Jacob Young continues to play Gold Glove defense in center field, the Nationals might decide their money is better spent addressing other roster needs (first base, rotation, bullpen).

Or, the Nats may figure they can find a way to add an experienced star outfielder to the trio of promising youngsters they already have, taking advantage of the DH position to create a four-man rotation that would be the envy of almost every other team in the sport.

But forget about Soto for the moment. Tonight is about the debut not only of Crews, but of the entire young outfield of Crews, Wood and Young.

“I’ve never played with him at any level; I mean, spring training, of course. But he’s a darn good ballplayer, we know that,” said Young, who at 25 will be the oldest member of the group by three years. “It’s going to be fun to have him out there patrolling the outfield, run more balls down, cover more ground. I’m excited to see what he does. He’s going to help us win ballgames.”

Crews’ minor league numbers – a .270/.342/.451 slash line, 21 doubles, 13 homers and 68 RBIs in 100 total games this season – aren’t eye-popping, certainly not to the extent Wood’s numbers were. But what he may lack in flash he likely makes up for in consistency and intensity.

Ask someone who spent time with Crews at Triple-A this year what stands out most about him, and you understand why he’s so highly touted.

“I’ve gotten this question a bunch, and my answer’s always the same: His work ethic and his drive, his motor, on the field. It’s impressive,” catcher Drew Millas said. “Sometimes you see these guys that are top picks, and some guys maybe feel like they have less to worry about, you know? I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ve seen it throughout the years, guys taking their foot off the gas just a little during games.

“He’s never that. He’s always 110 percent. In the outfield, there’s zero to very little mistakes, if any. And he has a very, very hard drive and hard motor out there when he’s playing. It’s impressive to watch.”

And now the Nationals, their fans and the rest of the major leagues get the opportunity to watch it on the biggest stage.