Happy Dylan Crews Day!
The Nats future continues to become the present as Wednesday could feature a lot of what I would suspect would be the hopeful Opening Day 2026 "Hoping to be Playoff Relevant" lineup
C Keibert Ruiz
1B ?
2B Luis Garcia Jr
SS CJ Abrams
3B ? (Probably Brady House)
LF James Wood
CF Dylan Crews
RF ?
SP Mackenzie Gore
DH ?
Sure the "?"s could be filled by someone here now and definitely don't expect the 6 listed to all be starting in April of 2026 - that's just baseball, but the tipping point has been reached. The Nats will be playing more of the "future" than the "present" going forward.
And that's good because the Nats have finally played enough bad ball to be officially dropped from most WC lists. This isn't doing the Nats dirty. They have 59 wins now and have played most of the season like a high 60s win team. They'll be aiming to get over 70 wins and beat last years surprise 71, with a deserved one. They should do it but isn't guaranteed. Aiming for 70 we'll note the current WC line is at... 70 wins.
I'll most be interested in what kind of power Crews can bring. That's what the Nats lack the most. Even Wood - who can hit the ball with great force - hasn't been able to put it over the fence enough. That should come with time but you'd rather see someone do it now than have everyone in the "it'll get better" pile. Crews probably won't show that much pop. His AAA picked up the pace from AA but wasn't all that great. Wood's was and that didn't immediately translate.
Enjoy this moment. The future is almost all here (hopefully House will get called up at the end of the AAA season and complete the 2026 squad) and everything is hope and possibilities right now. Next year will be about the reality.
15 comments:
You know who the 1B is. You know it but you don't wnat to admit it. Because it will require a deal with the devil himself. And that devil goes by the name Boras and the price for the Nats immortial soul will be Pete Alonzo on a contract that will make him ridiculously overpaid for the next decade.
An overpaid Alonso at 1B sounds better than Gore as SP1. If we’re to assume Gore is starting on Opening Day 2026, that means we haven’t signed a better SP and filling that void isn’t part of the plan. Funny how Young is not in this OD26 lineup and Gore is…
I wouldn’t be so fast to assume no Young and Crews in instead. Young very realistic to be the CF based on his gold glove level defense…I think you give him next year (or most of it) before really making a move to make him an OF4
I actually think leaving Young out of the mix is the bigger mistake. I suppose it's not impossible that by 2026 we have so many 4+ WAR OFers that he gets bumped, but it feels unlikely to me. Do you really expect any of Morales, Lile, Hassell, and Wallace to really force their way into the lineup? Even if Green or Vaquero hit their ceilings, it won't be by 2026.
I guess maybe Soto could demand to keep playing OF. You'd very obviously rather have Wood/Crews/Soto than Wood/Young/Crews. But that doesn't sound like Soto, and even then, you'd probably shift Wood to 1B or DH unless you have big bats there too.
Again, not impossible, but it feels incorrect to leave Young off.
With Gore, I think Harper is projecting the continued development that many of us expect and hope for him. I'd still rather he be the SP2, but Gore becoming an ace isn't farfetched at all -- even if he's very clearly not one today.
Any thoughts on where Crews will play today? Do they bump Young to right or move Crews over there? That might give an indication on their long-term thoughts on Young.
Right fielders need a big bat. As a right fielder, Young is not a Major League player. If he can't play center field, he can't play.
Davey wins the season series against the Braves (even with two H2H games left in September). I believe this is the first time he has accomplished this.
I guess I’m asking something a little different. If Crews plays center tonight and Young is bumped to RF or the bench, does that say something about their plans for Young? If Crews starts in right, then is this the outfield of the future?
I'd bet a lot of money that Crews will play the majority of his innings in RF for the rest of the year. Young's performance so far in CF is far better than we could reasonably expect from Crews. If Crews is actually a Young-caliber defender, that will show up in how Crews plays CF. There's no reason (a) for Young to sit; or (b) to move Young to RF. This OF--Wood in LF, Young in CF, and Crews in RF--may or may not be the OF of the future. I suppose there could be some signal about the org's views if they decide to sit Young and/or move him to RF (and have Crews play CF), but that would be insane in that it would torch Young's value. If the org does not view Young as an everyday player, then they have plenty of time to have Crews play CF in the future--there's no reason to do that now.
I meant "that will show up in how Crews plays RF" not CF
Donald, I don't think where Young and Crews line up is really indicative of anything. I suspect they'll have Young in CF because Young is arguably the best CF in the National League and Davey wants (and the players want) to win baseball games. If we obtain a RF (...Juan Soto, we're all thinking it) who pushed Crews to CF and Young to OF4 or off the team in the offseason, then that's a "then" issue. I don't think "can Crews handle CF?" is a question that needs to be answered in MLB (unlike "can Crews hit Major League pitching?" which can only be answered in MLB); if the player development staff is doing their jobs they probably already have an answer to that question.
I think the free agency situation this offseason makes it a pretty easy analysis. If the Nats reunite with Juan Soto, then one of their three current OFers leaves, whether that means Wood gets a new position or Young leaves the starting lineup. If they don't, then I think Wood LF, Young CF, Crews RF is the outfield for 2025 pending injury luck, and for 2026 unless someone in the minors forces their way into the mix with the quality of their play.
Now, if someone can just tell me why we're playing Joey Gallo (before the Call injury) instead of putting Chapparo, Yepez, and Tena out there full-time, I'd like to know, because if any of those three guys can be our 1B/DH of the future, it would be a huge bonus, and the only way to learn is to see them hit against MLB pitching as much as possible.
Unless he goes on a serious heater over the next month I’d be surprised if the Nats brought House up at the end of the season. First of all the AAA season doesn’t end until 9/22. House is only 21 and is currently posting a 94 wRC+ with a 3.5% BB rate. There’s time to let him get his feet under him.
Jacob Young has more fWAR and bWAR than Corbin Carroll. His defense is that good.
Trade Brady House to COL for Ezequial Tovar and shift CJ to 3B
FWIW - I think Jacob Young's D means he's the last thing to replace. Obviously if an OF is what they can grab instead of a 1B/DH then ok he goes bc you do need better bats and you hope you don't lose much with Crews in CF and Wood next to him but if you have a focus it should be on 1B & DH
As for Gore as SP1... well I think you hope he blossoms so much so whoever they sign this year is a #1 pitching 2nd (but yeah OD lineup would probably be that other guy - it didn't fit into the youthquake lineup though)
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