Every top prospect develops at their own rate.

So no matter what happens with Dylan Crews in the days, weeks and months ahead, it’s not to say anything is doomed for the Washington Nationals‘ former No. 2 overall pick.

But the outfielder could certainly put some minds at ease with a strong spring.

He has some of the most impressive physical tools in baseball. Crews can do pretty much anything he wants on the field.

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It’ll just be a matter of doing the good things consistently enough. So far in his time in MLB, Crews has been unable to string together long stretches of good play.

Making matters tougher, Crews isn’t even guaranteed full-time status to begin the 2026 season. Without that, it’ll be extra tough to prove himself.

So this spring is critical, even if there will still be more chances to come down the road.

“There’s a bit of an outfield logjam here — the Nats have five outfielders who will be younger than 26 years old on Opening Day — and Crews has a career 79 OPS+ in parts of two Major League seasons,” wrote MLB.com’s Jared Greenspan in a new article on Saturday. “His third big league Spring Training is a critical one. He could still be one of the best young players in baseball, and a strong spring would help his case.”

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Really, it’s kind of crazy to already be stressing about Crews’ chances. He was only drafted in 2023. Time is still on his side.

But the baseball world can pass players by quickly. Crews’ pedigree only matters so much. At some point, it becomes just as much about production.

This spring is Crews’ chance to prove he can be a strong contributor for the Nats as they try to turn this thing around.

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