August has turned into a rough stretch for the Washington Nationals in more ways than one, and Dylan Crews has become part of the problem. With key players moved in trades, James Wood sidelined by injury, and losses stacking up, the Nationals needed someone to pick up the slack. Instead, Crews has gone cold at exactly the wrong time.
The opportunity was there. Washington has been leaning on him heavily in the lineup, batting him leadoff against lefties and often third against righties.
But the production hasn’t followed. Crews is just 8 for 57 in August, a brutal skid for a player the Nationals have clearly trusted to do more.
That makes the month even more frustrating because July had looked like a possible turning point. Crews posted an .801 OPS and drew 14 walks that month. But outside of August, he has only seven walks all season, which makes that spike in plate discipline look more like a flash than a trend.
The underlying issues are hard to miss. In 2026, Crews has a 32.8% chase rate and a 30.6% whiff rate, both well below average. That combination leaves him constantly behind the count and fighting uphill before an at-bat really even gets started.
There has been some progress in one area. Coming into the season, one of his biggest issues was a ground-ball-heavy profile, but he has cut his GB% from 50.2% to 38.5%.
The catch is that a lot of those flyballs are being hit to straightaway centerfield, which makes them easier to defend and harder to turn into damage. In a game full of athletic center fielders, driving the ball up the middle is a tougher route than it used to be.
Still, the bigger issue seems to be how he’s choosing pitches to attack. Crews is giving away too many at-bats, especially when the moment demands something more. Against the Mets, he struck out on seven pitches, and not one of them was in the strike zone.
That kind of at-bat captures the whole Dylan Crews experience right now. The talent is there, but the game seems to be speeding up on him at the plate. He falls behind 0-2 too often, and the look is usually the same: a hitter reacting instead of dictating.
With the Nationals’ playoff hopes already gone, the rest of this season should function as a proving ground for Crews. If he doesn’t catch fire down the stretch, his place on the roster shouldn’t be considered safe. Right now, he looks like the fourth-best outfielder on the team behind James Wood, Jacob Young and Daylen Lile.
At this point, he is closer to Andrew Pinckney and Sam Petersen than to the kind of star many fans expected when he arrived. There is still a player here.
Crews has exit velocity, athleticism and defense, and that gives him a path to being useful. But the bat has lagged far behind everything else.
Could he still turn into a Jordan Walker-type breakout? Maybe.
But that’s not the bet to make. The more likely outcome, based on what he’s shown, is an athletic fourth outfielder who can handle left-handed pitching.
That’s a useful piece. It’s just not what anyone had in mind given his pedigree.
Things can change fast, but for now the outlook in Washington is bleak. If the Nationals can get something worthwhile for him - or even package him with other pieces to land a pitcher - that’s a move they should consider. There’s still some hope left for Dylan Crews, but the belief level has taken a serious hit.
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The problem, as so often has been the case, was offense. Washington could not put together much against deGrom or the Rangers staff, and the lack of run support wasted a respectable effort on the mound. Blake Butera pointed to deGroms ability and noted the bullpens recent improvement, but the bigger concern for the Nationals remains the same familiar one: until the lineup starts giving its pitchers something to work with, nights like this will keep ending the same way. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Suddenly Have A CJ Abrams Question They Cant Ignore
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The next step is the medical check, with Abrams set to see the team physician and possibly go through imaging as the Nationals try to sort out how much time he might lose. If he avoids the injured list, Washington could have a workaround ready in the form of designated hitter duty before he returns to the field, but for now the club is waiting to find out how the ankle responds. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Prospect Is Creating A Debate Washington Cant Ignore
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The timing matters, too, because the surge has come after a left oblique strain interrupted his season and cost him nearly all of last month. Since getting back on the field, King has kept hitting at a level that puts him among the top bats in the minors, with the kind of averages and on-base production that make evaluators pay attention. For the Nationals, the debate is no longer just about how good King can be, but how quickly this version of him starts forcing a bigger conversation. [Read more 🡒]