Nationals announce 2024 minor league awards

Standouts from across the Washington Nationals Minor League system will be recognized as part of a special pregame ceremony on Tuesday, as the club recognizes its 2024 Minor League Award winners. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo and Vice President and Assistant General Manager, Player Development & Administration Eddie Longosz selected the following players in recognition of their outstanding 2024 seasons.

• Hitter of the Year – Outfielder Dylan Crews
• Pitcher of the Year – Right-handed pitcher Travis Sykora
• Defensive Player of the Year – Outfielder Elijah Green
• Baserunner of the Year – Infielder/Outfielder Darren Baker
• Nationals Way Award – Outfielder Daylen Lile and Right-handed pitcher Brad Lord

Crews, 22, is currently the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com and the No. 3 prospect, according to Baseball America. He ranked in Washington’s Minor League system in extra-base hits (2^nd, 40), triples (2^nd, 6), slugging percentage (3^rd, .451), OPS (3^rd, .793), RBI (3^rd, 68), doubles (T3^rd, 21), home runs (4^th, 13), average (4^th, .270) and stolen bases (T4^th, 25) prior to his Major League call-up on Aug. 26. For his efforts in the first half of the season, Crews was selected to represent the Nationals in the 2024 All-Star Futures Game in July.

Crews finished his 2024 Minor League campaign hitting .270 with 21 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs, 68 RBI, 36 walks, 25 stolen bases and 60 runs scored in 100 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. Crews hit .309 (21-for-68) with a .385 on-base percentage (5 BB, 4 HBP) and a .529 slugging percentage (2B, 3B, 4 HR) in 16 games from Aug. 3-Aug. 23 before joining Washington. He reached base safely in all 16 of those games and hit safely in 13 of the 16.

Crews was the second overall pick in the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Louisiana State University, where he made his mark as one of the most accomplished and decorated players in the history of college baseball. In addition to leading LSU to the 2023 National Championship, he was a consensus First-Team All-American in 2023 and 2022 and became the first player to win Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in back-to-back-seasons (2022, 2023).

Sykora, 20, was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year after going 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA, 129 strikeouts and 27 walks in 85.0 innings across 20 starts for Single-A Fredericksburg in his first professional season. From his debut on May 1 through the end of the season, Sykora led all Minor League pitchers (min. 85.0 IP) with a .168 opponent’s batting average and 5.29 hits per 9.0 innings, while he ranked among them in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (2^nd, 13.66) and WHIP (3^rd, 0.91). His 129 strikeouts paced all of Single-A and ranked fourth among Nationals Minor Leaguers, despite his later start.

Sykora helped Fredericksburg clinch the Carolina League in the second half and a berth in the league’s Championship Series, where he struck out nine over 5.0 innings of shutout, one-hit ball in the title-clinching Game 3 victory. In his final eight starts of the regular season, Sykora posted a 1.23 ERA (5 ER/36.2 IP) with 61 strikeouts and a 4-0 record. Opponents hit just .156 with no home runs in this span.

His strong run to finish the season included a pair of outings that earned him Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks and Carolina League Pitcher of the Month recognition for August. He struck out eight batters and allowed just one walk in 5.0 no-hit innings on Aug. 2 at Lynchburg and followed that with a career-high 10 strikeouts across 6.0 perfect innings against Carolina on Aug. 9. Sykora finished the month of August 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA (3 ER/30.2 IP), 48 strikeouts, a 0.52 WHIP and a .118 opponent’s batting average over his six starts in August.

The six-foot-six right-hander is currently the No. 92 prospect in baseball (No. 3 in the Nationals system) according to MLBPipeline.com and is the No. 97 prospect (No. 4 in the Nationals system) according to Baseball America. Sykora was selected by the Nationals in the third round of the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas.

Green, 20, led the Nationals system and ranked ninth among Minor League center fielders with a career-high eight assists in 2024. He posted a .964 fielding percentage after appearing in a career-high 100 games in center field this season for Single-A Fredericksburg. In total, Green played 858.1 innings in center field, third-most among all Single-A outfielders. From July 19 to Sept. 5, he cleanly fielded 77 consecutive chances in center and recorded 72 putouts.

At the plate, Green finished the year with 86 hits, including 14 doubles, four triples and 13 home runs. He recorded 54 RBI, scored 74 runs and stole 39 bases. The Windermere, Fla. native led Washington’s system in runs (74) and stolen bases (39) and ranked in triples (T3^rd, 4), RBI (6^th, 54), home runs (T6^th, 13), walks (T7^th, 46), extra-base hits (9^th, 31), total bases (9^th, 147) and hits (T9^th, 86).

Green is currently rated by Baseball America as the No. 19 prospect in Washington’s Minor League system and No. 21 by MLBPipeline.com. Baseball America cited him as having the “Best Outfield Arm” and as the “Best Athlete” in Washington’s system. He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Baker, 25, led Washington’s Minor League system in stolen bases (38) before making his Major League debut with Washington on Sept. 1. Baker’s 38 steals were the third-most in the International League in 2024. He also ranked second among Nationals farmhands and tied for 12th in the International League with 70 runs scored prior to his call-up.

Baker finished the season with career highs in hits (124), RBI (49), stolen bases (38) and runs scored (70). He also ranked among the top 10 in Washington’s system in batting average (2^nd, .285), on-base percentage (3^rd, .348), total bases (8^th, 148), OPS (9^th, .688), RBI (T9^th, 49) and doubles (T10^th, 20).

Baker hit safely in a career-high 17 games from Aug. 7–28 before having his contract selected by Washington – the longest streak in Minor League Baseball at the time. Baker hit .343 (24-for-70) with six doubles, five RBI, five walks, seven stolen bases and 16 runs scored during the streak.

Baker was selected in the 10^th round of the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of California, Berkeley.

Lile, 21, and Lord, 24, receive the award given to the Nationals Minor Leaguers who best demonstrate the professionalism, leadership, loyalty, passion, selflessness, durability, determination and work ethic required to play the game the “Washington Nationals Way.”

The left-handed hitting Lile paced Washington’s Minor League system in triples (10), tied for the lead in doubles (23) and ranked in hits (2^nd, 127), total bases (T3^rd, 188), walks (T3^rd, 54), OBP (4^th, .347), OPS (4^th, .735), runs scored (4^th, 69), batting average (5^th, .262) and stolen bases (T6^th, 25). He hit .262 with 23 doubles, 10 triples, six homers, 45 RBI, 54 walks, 25 stolen bases and 69 runs scored across 130 games between High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg.

Lile posted a 15-game on-base streak from April 12-May 2 with Wilmington, the longest on-base streak of his career. He hit .309 (17-for-55) with two doubles, three triples, six RBI, 10 walks, six stolen bases and 12 runs scored over that span.

Lile was selected in the second round of the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the Trinity High School in Trinity, Ky.

Lord led Washington’s Minor League system in ERA (2.43), opponent’s batting average (.224), winning percentage (.714) and ranked in wins (2^nd, 10), WHIP (2^nd, 1.20), strikeouts (2^nd, 135), innings pitched (5^th, 129.2) and games started (T5^th, 25). Through his first 15 starts, he was tied for the Minor League lead in wins (10) and ranked among all Minor League pitchers in innings pitched (2^nd, 95.1), winning percentage (4^th, .909) and ERA (8^th, 1.98).

Lord finished 10-4 with a 2.43 ERA, 135 strikeouts and 49 walks across 25 starts between High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He was twice named Eastern League Pitcher of the Month (June and July) and earned one Eastern League Pitcher of the Week award (June 17). Between May 3 and June 18 in Harrisburg, Lord allowed two or fewer earned runs across nine starts and finished 8-0 with a 0.79 ERA (5 ER/ 57.0 IP) with 19 walks and 56 strikeouts.

From July 6-Aug. 17, he allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven consecutive starts with the Red Wings. During that span, he went 1-2 with a 2.41 ERA (9 ER/ 33.2 IP) with nine walks, 31 strikeouts and an opponent’s batting average of .218 (27-for-124).

Lord was selected in the 18^th round of the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Florida.

Year          Winners

2024         OF Dylan Crews, (Hitter of the Year), RHP Travis Sykora (Pitcher of the Year), OF Elijah Green (Defensive Player of the Year), INF/OF Darren Baker (Baserunner of the Year), OF Daylen Lile and RHP Brad Lord (Nationals Way)

2023         OF James Wood (Hitter of the Year), LHP Andrew Alvarez (Pitcher of the Year), INF Trey Lipscomb (Defensive Player of the Year), OF Johnathon Thomas (Baserunner of the Year), OF Jacob Young (Nationals Way)

2022         OF Jeremy De La Rosa and OF James Wood (co-Hitter of the Year), RHP Cade Cavalli (Pitcher of the Year), Jordy Barley (Defensive Player of the Year), Jacob Young (Baserunner of the Year), Jake Alu (Nationals Way)

2021          INF/OF Jake Noll (Player of the Year), RHP Cade Cavalli (Pitcher of the Year), OF Donovan Casey (Defensive Player of the Year), INF Jordy Barley (Baserunner of the Year), INF/OF Jack Dunn (Nationals Way)

2020         No awards due to the cancellation of the Minor League Season

2019          OF Yadiel Hernandez (Player of the Year), LHP Tim Cate (Pitcher of the Year), INF Luis García (Defensive Player of the Year), INF/OF Cole Freeman (Baserunner of the Year), C Jakson Reetz (Boone)

2018          INF Carter Kieboom (Player of the Year), LHP Ben Braymer/RHP Wil Crowe (co-Pitcher of the Year), INF Jake Noll (Boone)

2017          OF Daniel Johnson (Player of the Year), RHP Wander Suero (Pitcher of the Year), C Raudy Read (Boone)

2016          1B Jose Marmolejos (Player of the Year), RHP Reynaldo Lopez (Pitcher of the Year), OF Rafael Bautista (Boone)

2015          1B Jose Marmolejos (Player of the Year), RHP Austin Voth (Pitcher of the Year), RHP Austen Williams (Boone)

2014          OF Steven Souza Jr. (Player of the Year), RHP Lucas Giolito (Pitcher of the Year), INF Wilmer Difo (Boone)

2013          OF Billy Burns (Player of the Year), RHP Taylor Jordan (Pitcher of the Year), 2B Tony Renda (Boone)

2012          INF Matthew Skole (Player of the Year), RHP Nathan Karns (Pitcher of the Year)

2011           INF Steve Lombardozzi (Player of the Year), RHP Brad Peacock (Pitcher of the Year)

2010          OF Tyler Moore (Player of the Year), LHP Tom Milone (Pitcher of the Year)

2009         C Derek Norris (Player of the Year), RHP Brad Meyers (Pitcher of the Year)

2008         OF Leonard Davis (Player of the Year), RHP Jordan Zimmermann (Pitcher of the Year)

2007         OF Justin Maxwell (Player of the Year), LHP John Lannan (Pitcher of the Year)

2006         INF Kory Casto (Player of the Year), RHP Zechry Zinicola (Pitcher of the Year)

2005         INF Kory Casto (Player of the Year), LHP Michael O'Connor (Pitcher of the Year)