Washington Nationals news & notes: Dylan Crews debuts + more…

Notes and quotes on Dylan Crews debuting in the majors with Juan Soto in Nats Park…

Dylan Crews, the Nationals’ 22-year-old, 2023 1st Round pick, made his debut in the majors against New York’s Yankees in Washington, D.C. this past August, going 4 for 11 with a walk, two doubles, and his first MLB home run in the series.

Doing what he did in an emotional three-game set, which saw Juan Soto return to the nation’s capital, and the Yankees put former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole out on the mound in the second game, made an impression on Nats’ GM and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo.

“Good start for him, and what is hopefully a long, illustrious career,” Rizzo told 106.7 the FAN’s Sports Junkies after the series.

“He handled all the hoopla well.

“It’s not easy to start your career with Juan Soto in the house and the Yankees throwing a Cy Young winner at you. It was a tough challenge and I think he’s up for it.”

Getting Crews up to the big leagues, and playing with young building blocks James Wood, CJ Abrams, Luis García, Jr., Keibert Ruiz, and more, gave the next-gen talent an opportunity to play together and bond with an eye on the future.

“They’re starting to learn how to play together, play up here, getting Dylan here is another big piece for us,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters during the series. “They’re playing together, and it’s fun to watch them. They’re going to grow together, we’re going to do some really good things, and a lot faster than people think.”

What Martinez saw in the series, he said, was his young, hungry players trying to prove they can hang and welcoming the challenges of competing in the majors.

“We’ve got guys that understand the game,” Martinez said.

“We got some young players that really do understand the game. We’ve got some guys that have been here that are starting to understand the game.”

Crews, he said, handled it all well, fitting right in at another level of the game.

“He’s been awesome. he really has. He loves to play the game, and he wants to play baseball. He’s got this little kind of inner energy that he brings every day and it’s fun to watch.”

“I would describe him as a very warm and welcoming but positive person, with a confident swagger to him,” Rizzo said of Crews’s personality. “He’s not over the top, it’s not all ‘me, me, me;’ he really embraces the team concept and feels most comfortable in the clubhouse. He’s going to fit in wonderfully with this good young group of guys that kind of cut their teeth together in the minors, and are now trying to transcend into the core of that big league club.”

MacKenzie Gore, another member of the young core, on the pitching side, said it’s put up or shut up time.

“I think we all understand that we’re talented, to be honest with you,” the 25-year-old southpaw said. “But it’s kind of one of those — either you do it, or you don’t. This is where we’re at. We don’t want to just be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to be good in a couple years,’ as a player and a team. It’s our job to be good right now.”

The fact Crews came up, and all of their talent acquired over the last few years of their reboot (or mini-retool?) was out on display with Soto back in the nation’s capital ahead of his potentially record-setting free agency, was a coincidence, Rizzo said, not an attempt to show Soto what he could be part of if he returned to the Nats.

“Total coincidence, believe it or not. We thought it was time for [Crews] to get here,” Rizzo said. “You don’t have to remind Juan what Washington is all about, he had the biggest moment of his life here. Speaking to him since then, those were moments and seasons he’ll never forget. He was adored by the fan base, and by his teammates, too; those guys protected a very young Soto like you’d protect your little brother, and he was loved and adored in that clubhouse. It’s hard not to like a guy with that kind of talent and smile and personality.”

Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images

The club Soto saw, however, was a young and talented group a free agent would, if they were honest, be excited to join and help take the next step.

“That’s who we are right now – we’re a team that’s young and trying to establish the core for our next championship run,” Rizzo said. “You’ve seen this slow pace and piecing this together, and I think you’re looking at a lineup that is very young but very talented.”