Dylan Crews’ steely gaze still adorns light posts outside Nationals Park, but he wasn’t listed on the roster for Monday’s exhibition loss against the Baltimore Orioles, a final tune-up for the regular season.
The Washington Nationals, now led by first-year President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni and new manager Blake Butera, sent 2024’s No. 2 overall pick down to Triple-A Rochester over the weekend. They sent a message in the process: nobody’s development would be rushed.
“You have to be honest with the player. When you tell them something and it’s not true, they see right through it,” Butera said of informing a player that he wouldn’t make the opening day roster. “I’d much rather err on the side of being honest. Even if it might hurt their feelings, they know where they stand and what they need to do to get to the big leagues.”
Washington is still narrowing down toward a 26-man roster for opening day. The team sent relief pitcher Orlando Ribalta and outfielder Christian Franklin to Triple-A on Monday.
“We always want to be open-minded, but we feel really good about our 26 right now,” Butera said Monday.
That doesn’t make the news any easier for whichever player goes to Triple-A as unlucky player No. 27.
“Every single one of those conversations are really tough,” said Butera, 33, the youngest manager in Major League Baseball.
The numbers provided a harsh honesty for Crews. He batted .103 in spring training, failing to record an extra-base hit across 29 at-bats.
Crews was drafted out of LSU to be a potential foundational piece for the Nationals, who have failed to record a winning season since securing a World Series title in 2019. It hasn’t panned out yet.
But this is Crews’ first offseason with the new, analytics-forward approach of Toboni and Butera. They don’t need to point out his batting average and tell him to improve. They can highlight exactly where his swing is faltering.
The fly ball is vital in modern baseball. A solid fly-ball hitter turns hang time into home runs. For a batter who struggles with power, a high fly-ball rate can be a death sentence.
Last year, just 6.8% of Crews’ fly balls remained in the infield. The vast majority of them made it to the outfield grass, with a handful landing in the stands. This spring, that rate ticked up to 55.6%.
Spring training stats aren’t the be-all end-all for Butera, but they can indicate larger problems. Highlighting those issues has been a key factor for the coaching staff as it helps shepherd a young roster into a new era.
Crews is still a major piece of Washington’s future.
“I want to make sure that in each of those individual meetings, when the player leaves, they feel like we’re in their corner, we still care for them and believe in them,” Butera said. “And secondly, what it is exactly they need to do to make sure that they can get called up to the big leagues.”
Washington’s upcoming campaign isn’t about immediate success. Most sportsbooks and MLB experts predict the Nationals could lose close to 100 games this season.
But Toboni and Butera are trying to lay a foundation. The players have bought in.
“As a team, we’re young. We’re looking for guidance,” said pitcher Cade Cavalli, who will be Washington’s opening day starter. “There’s some things we haven’t had to navigate as a squad, and they’re trying to help us. They’re very good at communicating, and it builds a lot of trust in the organization.”
The Nationals leaders have been honest with the players — they don’t expect to compete for the playoffs this year. Winning is nice, but developing players to thrive in the future is the priority.
“We’re going to be a process-oriented deal, and at the same time, we’re competing to win every game,” Cavalli said. “Those go hand in hand. It’s about how you treat your work and your preparation, and I think we’re doing a great job at that, staying dialed in and then not worrying about the results too much.”
It’s a delicate tight-rope for pitchers such as Cavalli. They’re still attempting to record outs, but he also wants to continue improving his repertoire. Some days, he reasoned, he might need to throw a changeup to make sure he can execute it, even if it isn’t the ideal pitch for the at-bat.
“We asked them early on to get outside their comfort zone. Try to stretch a single into a double, try to go first or third, you know, try some different things,” Butera said. “We’re not necessarily just practicing or experimenting, so to speak. But now it’s: Go compete and try to win every day.”
The Nationals open the season in Chicago against the Cubs on Thursday afternoon.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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