Dylan

Crews

Horton enters as the heavy favorite after emerging as one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers in the second half, posting a dazzling 1.03 ERA across 61 1/3 innings over 12 starts. Baldwin would be a worthy choice in most years after cementing himself as Atlanta’s catcher of both the present and future during an impressive full-season debut, slugging 19 homers across 124 games. Durbin’s inclusion comes as a mild surprise over unheralded Nationals outfielder Daylen Lile, who posted an .845 OPS with 35 extra-base hits over 91 contests. Nationals center fielder Dylan Crews and Dodgers starer-turned-postseason closer Roki Sasaki entered the year as preseason favorites, but both missed most of the campaign due to injury. The winner will be announced on Monday, November 10.

The Nationals lost 5-0 in 10 tonight, but they nearly won in the ninth after Crews singled and Josh Bell followed with a hit to right with one out. Unfortunately, the carom off the wall was perfect for Ronald Acuña Jr. and Crews was given the stop sign at third base. Bell couldn’t even reach second on what would have seemed to be a sure double. The Braves then escaped on a popout from Daylen Lile and an excellent jumping catch from Acuña on Luis García Jr.'s liner to right. Crews ended the doubleheader 3-for-7 with a walk, raising his average to .208.

Crews connected for his first round-tripper in the big leagues since May 20 when he took Marlins reliever Seth Martinez deep in the fifth inning. It was his eighth long ball of the season. It’s easy to forget considering how much time he missed due to injury this year that Crews remains one of the most promising young talents in the sport and should make a serious fantasy impact next season.

The 23-year-old Crews also sat Monday and the Nationals had Thursday off, so this means he’ll have started twice in five days, which is pretty hard to understand. Crews is batting .210/.310/.306 in 19 games since coming off the IL, which obviously isn’t good. Still, he’s the second most important player in the organization, and given that he missed half of the season, one would think the Nationals would be getting him as many at-bats as possible right now.

Crews laced two singles over 106 mph here and stole two bases on top of them. He hasn’t hit much since returning from his oblique strain a few weeks ago and only stolen one base heading into this contest, but he has the talent and speed to get hot as the season closes.

Crews came to the plate with one out and no one on against the vaunted Jhoan Duran in the ninth inning. He would slap a hard double down the line and come around to score the tying run in a rally that eventually won the game for the Nationals. He has four extra-base hits in eight games since returning from the injured list and could be a valuable spark-plug for fantasy managers down the stretch.

The Nationals jumped all over Mets’ starter Kodai Senga for five runs in five innings and Crews was at the center of both rallies that got them there. First, he worked back from down 0-2 to draw a lead-off walk in an inning where Washington would score their first two runs. Then, he laced a run-scoring double off Senga’s forkball, a pitch that’s rarely hit hard. While his stats still look awful due to his slow start to the season and lengthy trip to the injured list, Crews is a talented young hitter that could get hot in an instant.

Crews finds himself near the bottom of Washington’s lineup card for the second straight contest after going 2-for-7 with a walk in a pair of games since returning from the injured list earlier this week. The 23-year-old former top prospect is one of the most intriguing young talents in the game, but his season wound up being completely derailed by an oblique strain that cost him nearly three months.

Crews is back after missing nearly three months with his oblique strain. The outfielder was shaky at best prior to that injury, but he’s a 23-year-old who offers enormous offensive upside. He’s worthy of taking a flyer on in most leagues, but be prepared for some bitter with the better.

Crews is going to play four or five innings for Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday and then head to D.C. in time for the four-game series against the Phillies. The 23-year-old was a popular breakout candidate coming into this season, but he has hit just .196/.266/.354 in 45 games before getting hurt. However, he did have seven home runs and 11 steals, so there remains true five-category upside here, and Crews is worth at least a bench stash in 12-team leagues and deeper. He played primarily right field when he was active earlier in the season, but can also play center field, so it remains to be seen if he will bump Daylen Lile or Robert Hassell III from the lineup.