Comparing Crews and Holliday as they start their big league careers

I want to thank reader and commenter Peter Wood for posing this question back in September that I thought was an interesting topic to address in the offseason: Who do we think will have a better career, Dylan Crews or Jackson Holliday?

It is, of course, way too early to make any proclamation one way or the other. But with each playing a substantial amount in the major leagues this season, there are significant data points to start the conversation.

Crews and Holliday are both highly touted young players and former No. 1 overall prospects in the sport. The Nationals got Crews out of Louisiana State with the No. 2 overall pick in 2023. Holliday, out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, was the No. 1 overall selection when the Orioles drafted him in 2022.

Both youngsters were anticipated to make their big league debuts this year, which they did. In fact, they each had a shot at making his respective team’s Opening Day roster. Many around the league believed that leaving Holliday off the Orioles roster to start the season was a surprising snub.

And so it was that both prospects started the year in the minor leagues, with Crews at Double-A Harrisburg and Holliday at Triple-A Norfolk.

But Holliday wasn’t long for the minors as he was called up to make his debut less than two weeks into the season. The 20-year-old struggled, however, in his first taste of the majors, going 2-for-34 (.059) with a .170 OPS and 18 strikeouts in just 10 games before being sent back down to the minors.

Holliday would spend the next three months at Triple-A while also spending some time on the injured list with left elbow inflammation. He would return to the Orioles on July 31, when he hit a grand slam for his first career home run in his first game back against the Blue Jays.

Over the season’s last two months, Holliday slashed .218/.285/.365 with a .650 OPS, four doubles, two triples, five home runs and 22 RBIs for a modest improvement from his first stint in the bigs. His final 50 games also included two separate five-game hitting streaks and six multi-hit efforts.

Holliday finished his 60-game rookie season hitting .189 with a .565 OPS, five homers, 23 RBIs, four stolen bases in as many chances, 15 walks and 69 strikeouts. While playing mostly second base and making three appearances at shortstop, he committed three errors and posted a -0.1 dWAR per Baseball Reference.

Meanwhile, Crews spent most of the season in the minor leagues. He put up solid yet not fantastic numbers in Double-A (.274/.343/.446 in 51 games) while also missing some time with a hamstring injury. He earned his promotion to Triple-A Rochester in mid-June and went on to slash .265/.340/.455 in 49 games with the Red Wings.

The 22-year-old finally made his major league debut on Aug. 26 against the Yankees. He burst onto the scene with a multi-hit outing in his second game, and in his third game Crews notched his first homer, helping the Nats take two out of three against the eventual American League champions.

But the early start to his career was probably the highlight of his time spent in the majors this year. Although he posted an .883 OPS through his first 10 games, which included a four-game hitting streak, he only had a .518 OPS over his final 21 games. He did, however, finish the season strong in the final series against the Phillies, going 6-for-10 with a double, a triple and two walks.

Crews finished the year slashing .218/.288/.353 with a .641 OPS, five doubles, one triple, three home runs, eight RBIs, 12 stolen bases in 15 chances, 11 walks and 26 strikeouts in 31 big league games. He was perfect in the outfield and posted a 0.3 dWAR, per Baseball Reference, while mostly playing in right field and appearing in four games in center.

Overall, Crews had slightly better numbers than Holliday but in half the sample size. And neither of them came close to matching the production of fellow top prospect James Wood, who slashed .264/.354/.427 with a .781 OPS, 13 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 41 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and 39 walks in 79 major league games with the Nats.

Crews and Holliday also came up in vastly different circumstances. Holliday was the top prospect in an Orioles organization loaded with young talent that was looking to return to the postseason. Crews was the top prospect in a Nats organization that is still building minor league depth and not yet competing at the major league level, allowing them to be more patient with his development.

As you can see, it is far too early to declare who will have a better career. Both struggled in their first tastes of the majors, but they also flashed the skill sets that give them such great potential.

What is definitely obvious is that baseball fans in Washington and Baltimore have no shortage of young, superstar talent to root for in the years to come.