WASHINGTON (WGNO) — 13 days after LSU’s national championship win, the Washington Nationals selected Dylan Crews with the 2nd overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
13 days later, Crews is officially introduced by his new club after signing the second-largest contract in MLB Draft history ($9 million).
“You know, from competing to a national championship and then winning that and you know the Golden Spikes and, you know, getting drafted to a great organization, it’s all happened so fast. It’s honestly kind of hard to enjoy everything, but, you know, I’ve learned how to slow things down and be where my feet are every single day. So, I’ve enjoyed it. You know, like I said, I couldn’t be happier with where I am today,” says former LSU outfielder Dylan Crews.
Dylan Crews chose college baseball over the MLB Draft coming out of high school and ended his time in Baton Rouge with a laundry list of accolades that include the 2023 Golden Spikes award, as well as the SEC’s Player and Male Athlete of the Year awards.
He was a three-year starter at LSU, playing in all 196 games during that span.
In the Tigers’ national championship run, Crews was considered one of the top hitters in the nation with 18 home runs, 70 RBIs, with a .426 batting average.
The Washington Nationals have kept a close eye on Crews since high school and after LSU’s series sweep of Ole Miss back in April, General Manager and President of Baseball Operations, Mike Rizzo, knew that he could be a “keystone” player in the Nationals’ organization.
“He’s been the man for three years at LSU, had the target on his back and you would never know it. He plays with a slow pulse and a low heart rate, a lot like Anthony Rendon was when I saw him at Rice. This is a guy, that it was about one thing. It wasn’t about going four-for-four and impressing the scouts, it was about winning that game,” says Nationals GM and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo.
Everyone’s journey to the show is different, but given his track record at LSU, the timeline for Dylan Crews to join the Washington Nationals could be a short one.
“We’re going to start in West Palm Beach. Get acclimated to the organization and then he’ll probably head somewhere in one of the A-ball clubs soon thereafter. It’ll all be driven by where he’s at and how rusty is from the season and that type of thing but I don’t think it should take very long for him to get into the swing of things and to get rolling,” says Rizzo.
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