Nationals select outfielder Dylan Crews

The Washington Nationals selected collegiate outfielder Dylan Crews out of Louisiana State University with the No. 2 pick in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Scouting Operations Kris Kline and Director of Scouting Operations Eddie Longosz made the joint announcement.

Crews, 21, was the winner of the 2023 Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the top amateur player in the country. In addition, he garnered consensus First-Team All-American honors and won a Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove following the 2023 season. Crews was named the 2023 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year for the second consecutive season – becoming the first player to win the award in back-to-back seasons, and was a member of the SEC All-Defensive Team two years in a row (2022-23). He was a finalist for the Dick Howser Award (top collegiate player).

The No. 1 draft prospect according to Baseball America, Crews hit .426 with 16 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 70 RBI, 71 walks, 46 strikeouts, six stolen bases and 100 runs scored in 71 games as he helped lead LSU to its seventh national championship in the 2023 College World Series. He posted a .567 on-base percentage and a .713 slugging percentage. Crews led the SEC and ranked among NCAA Division I hitters in runs scored (1^st, 100), walks (1^st, 71), hits (2^nd, 110), on-base percentage (2^nd, .567) and batting average (3^rd, .426).

The six-foot, 205-pound junior reached base safely in all 71 games in 2023, a streak that extends to 75 games dating to the end of the 2022 season. Crews hit safely in 26 straight games from Feb. 19 to April 1 of this season. He hit .495 (49-for-99) with an .879 slugging percentage, 11 doubles, nine homers, 35 RBI, 27 walks, three stolen bases and 46 runs scored during the streak.

Crews was a consensus First-Team All-American and the SEC co-Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2022. He hit .349 with 11 doubles, four triples, 22 home runs, 72 RBI, 42 walks, five stolen bases and 73 runs scored in 62 games. He was Louisiana State’s first SEC Player of the Year since 2012, and his 22 home runs were the most by an LSU player since 2009.

As a freshman in 2021, Crews was named National Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game. He garnered All-American honors from D1Baseball.com (2^nd team), Perfect Game (2^nd team), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (3^rd team) and the American Baseball Coaches Association (3^rd team). He was a consensus First-Team Freshman All-American and was Second-Team All-SEC after hitting 18 home runs, the most by a freshman in a single season in LSU history. He led the SEC in total bases (163) and ranked in batting average (3^rd, .362) on-base percentage (3^rd, .453), hits (4^th, 89), runs (4^th, 63), doubles (5^th, 16) and home runs (5^th, 18).

A native of Longwood, Florida, Crews graduated from Lake Mary (Fla.) High School, where he was a four-year letter winner. Following his senior season, he was the No. 13^th ranked high school player in the country according to Perfect Game. In 2019, he participated in the Perfect Game All-American Classic and the was an Under Armour All-American.