There's a new No. 1 on Nats' Top 30 Prospects list

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MLB Pipeline released its anticipated Top 100 and Top 30 team prospects midseason re-rankings this week.

There is a new top prospect on the Nationals' Top 30 list. MLB Pipeline ranked outfielder Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s Draft, at No. 1. He is also ranked No. 4 overall. Crews has wasted little time making a splash in pro ball. The 21-year-old out of LSU homered last Sunday and then, one game later, belted a grand slam. Currently playing for the Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals, Crews’ Major League ETA is next season.

Outfielder James Wood and third baseman Brady House, who had been ranked as Washington’s No. 1 and No. 2 prospects, respectively, moved to No. 2 and No. 3 with the addition of Crews. Wood is ranked as the No. 7 overall prospect in baseball, and House is No. 43. Both players are currently in Double-A Harrisburg.

There are players on the Nationals who still have prospect status as well: right-hander Cade Cavalli (No. 4), infielder Jake Alu (No. 17) and left-hander Jose A. Ferrer (No. 30).

Here’s a look at the Nationals' top prospects:

1. Crews, OF (No. 4, MLB)
2. Wood, OF (No. 7, MLB)
3. House, 3B (No. 43, MLB)
4. Cavalli, RHP
5. Elijah Green, OF

Complete Top 30 list »

BIGGEST JUMP/FALL
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: Daylen Lile, OF (Preseason: 16 | Midseason: 6) -- Lile, a 2021 second-round pick out of high school, missed all of last season because of Tommy John surgery. He returned in April with Single-A Fredericksburg and went on to be named Carolina League Player of the Week after batting .471 from July 3-9. He was promoted to High-A Wilmington not long after that.

Scouting grades -- Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 45 | Overall: 50.

Fall: T.J. White, 1B (Preseason: 10 | Midseason: 28) -- White, a 2021 fifth-round pick out of high school, dropped in the rankings with struggles at the plate. Through 75 games with High-A Wilmington this season, White hit .174 with 101 strikeouts. Last year, in comparison, he batted .258 with 104 strikeouts in 92 games in Single-A.

Scouting grades -- Hit: 40 | Power: 60 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 45 | Overall: 40.

NEW TO THE LIST
Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

1. Crews, OF (Draft)

7. Yohandy Morales, 3B (Draft)
8. Travis Sykora, RHP (Draft)
9. Kevin Made, SS (Trade)
10. DJ Herz, LHP (Trade)
11. Andrew Pinckney, OF (Draft)

IMPACT CALLUP
Jackson Rutledge, RHP (No. 13)
Added to the 40-man roster last offseason, Rutledge has reached Triple-A, and the Nationals are hopeful he can push for a debut before the season is out. He has a pair of fastballs (both in the mid-90s), an upper-80s change and two separate breaking balls, so there’s a deep enough arsenal here to get Nationals fans excited about the 6-foot-8 right-hander.

He doesn’t get whiffs as you’d hope for someone with his depth of stuff, but Washington should want to get an assessment of his Major League starting capabilities before fall arrives.

BEST TOOLS
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools: 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 70 -- Crews
Power: 60 -- Wood (Crews, House, Green, Morales, White)
Run: 70 --Green (Cristhian Vaquero)
Arm: 60 -- Green (House, Armando Cruz, Israel Pineda)
Defense: 60 -- Cruz (Green)
Fastball: 75 -- Jarlin Susana
Curveball: 60 -- Cavalli
Slider: 60 -- Susana
Changeup: 65 -- Herz
Control: 55 -- Jake Bennett