Dylan Crews is on his way back.
The 2023 No. 2 overall pick hasn't played for the Washington Nationals since May 20, when he hurt his oblique.
But he's returning to the Nats for their upcoming homestand.
The Washington Post's Andrew Golden reports that Crews will play four or five innings for Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday and then travel to the nation's capital.
Crews was officially placed on the injured list with his left oblique strain on May 21. He hurt himself on a check swing.
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Before getting hurt, this season had been a bit of a struggle for Crews. He was batting just .196 in 158 at bats, although he did have seven home runs and 11 stolen bases and had just started to heat up a little bit.
Crews had played 31 games in his MLB debut season in 2024 and batted .218 with three homers and 12 steals.
Still just 23 years old, Crews has a lot of upside and plenty of time to figure things out.
On his rehab at Rochester, through 12 games, he's hit .256 with a pair of home runs.
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The Nationals clearly don't have anything to play for in the standings the rest of the season, so all their priorities the rest of the way have to be on player development. Crews is one of the biggest aspects of that.
He entered professional baseball with immense hype out of LSU, and it was well warranted. His early MLB struggles aren't uncommon, even for the best of prospects.
But for the Nationals to reach their ceiling in the future, Crews needs to start growing into the player he's meant to be. That process can start now when he arrives back in D.C. from his injury.
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