Most significant stories of 2024: Wood and Crews arrive

We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2024. We conclude the series today with the long-awaited arrival of James Wood and Dylan Crews to the big leagues …

For three years, the Nationals’ best pitch to fans and the baseball world in general was to ask for patience. The franchise had torn down its championship roster, and it would take some time for the next generation of potential stars to rise through the ranks and take over in D.C.

It’s not easy to be patient, especially when it pertains to a ballclub that enjoyed eight straight winning seasons (five of those resulting in playoff berths) before falling into five consecutive losing seasons (one of which featured a club-record 107 losses). But the Nats insisted there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And the best evidence of that came this summer with the long-awaited promotions of two of the best prospects in baseball.

When James Wood debuted on July 1 and Dylan Crews followed on Aug. 26, the Nationals entered a new phase of the rebuild. They weren’t a winning team yet, far from it. But the addition of two elite young players to a roster already filled with other potential building blocks felt extra significant. For the first time since the teardown began in July 2021, the field was awash not in veterans set to be flipped at the trade deadline, not in stopgap solutions who had no real future here. No, everyone on the field had a chance to be part of the next winning team in D.C.

“They’re going to grow together,” manager Davey Martinez said at the conclusion of Crews’ first full series. “We’re going to do some really good things, and a lot faster than people think.”

The respective debuts of Wood and Crews wound up sharing all kinds of similarities. Each was informed of the news on a Friday afternoon, three days before his actual debut date. Each would play his first major league game on a Monday night in Washington. Each would do so against a big-name opponent from New York.

Wood’s debut came against the Mets, which allowed the 21-year-old left fielder to own the spotlight to himself. And he was right in the middle of a wild ballgame, reaching base three times, including both the bottom of the ninth and 10th, reaching scoring position with a chance to win the game each time.

He didn’t ultimately score the winning run because his teammates couldn’t drive him in. But that didn’t fully diminish how the entire night felt to Wood, who was asked how it compared to what he dreamed of growing up.

“Times ten,” he said with a smile. “That’s really all I can say about it. It was unreal.”

Crews’ debut eight weeks later came under the brightest spotlight imaginable. His first big league game was against the Yankees, with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in the building and an especially boisterous crowd on hand for the proceedings.

The No. 2 pick in the previous summer’s draft had a rather pedestrian night himself, and it was Judge who stole the show with a couple of leaping catches at the wall in center field. But by the time that series had concluded 48 hours later, Crews had gone 4-for-11 with two doubles, a homer, a walk and a stolen base, helping lead the Nats to two victories over the eventual American League champs.

“Overall, I thought today was awesome,” the 22-year-old outfielder said following the first victory. “And we won, so it was a great day.”

Neither Wood nor Crews was perfect in his first big league season, but each showed quite a bit of potential that has both biased and unbiased observers drooling over the long-term possibilities.

In 79 games, Wood finished with a .264/.354/.427 slash line, 13 doubles, four triples, nine homers, 41 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. He showed rare plate discipline for such a young player, not to mention the ability to hit the ball as hard as anybody in the sport. His power stroke developed over those three months, with opposite-field pokes to start and a few pulled moonshots by the end.

“In a short period of time, he’s really done well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But we knew that about him. He put up good numbers in the minor leagues. And he’s just now starting to understand who he really is. The sky’s the limit for him.”

Crews’ numbers in 31 games (.218/.288/.353, five doubles, one triple, three homers, eight RBIs, 12 stolen bases) were less impressive, and he clearly has some work to do when it comes to recognizing and reacting to big league pitches. But he played exceptionally clean defense in right field, ran the bases quite well and overall didn’t look fazed one bit by the challenge presented to him.

“It’s my first time here,” he said. “I’ve been here a month now. I’m learning. I’m learning, learning, learning. Basically just trying to get as many at-bats as I can here, and then be prepared for next year. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here this month, but I’ve never looked at it as a bad thing.”

This season was all about getting Wood and Crews to Washington, and giving both a taste of life in the big leagues. Next season will be all about getting the most out of both young stars, the two players who more than anyone else on the roster are being counted upon to bring this franchise out of the long and painful rebuild for good.