Crews launches first Double-A homer on 4-hit, 4-RBI night

Crews launches first Double-A homer on 4-hit, 4-RBI night

April 10th, 2024

It took one at-bat to equal his hit output from his first three games of the season. It took him two plate appearances to surpass it ... and MLB's No. 7 prospect didn't stop there.

Crews hammered his first Double-A homer during a four-hits and four-RBI night in Harrisburg's 8-7, 10-inning loss to Altoona on Tuesday night at PNG Field. The breakout erased a rough opening weekend for last year's No. 2 overall Draft pick, who went 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts in his first three games of the 2024 campaign.

Beating out a first-inning single to second base was only an appetizer for Crews, who turned around an early Senators deficit with a three-run homer to center field off right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (the Pirates' No. 7 prospect) in the next frame. The 22-year-old's first long ball of the year came in his 88th Double-A at-bat and was his first since his penultimate game with High-A Fredericksburg on Aug. 19.

Crews tallied his fourth RBI with a line-drive single in the fifth and added another knock in the seventh for his third career game with four or more hits. The former LSU standout flied out in the ninth, falling short of a chance to match his personal high of five hits. Crews' third game with four or more hits hiked his early-season OPS from .220 to .778.

While former college teammate and MLB's No. 3 prospect Paul Skenes is already knocking on the door of the Majors with Triple-A Indianapolis, Crews is pegged to be one of the up-and-coming offensive stars for the Nationals, who also have James Wood (MLB No. 14) one stop away at Triple-A Rochester.

Crews stood among NCAA D1 leaders in average (.426, fourth), OBP (.567, second), OPS (1.280, 11th), hits (110, second) and walks (71, first) in 71 collegiate games last season to earn the prestigious Golden Spikes Award. Behind the 1-2 tandem of Crews and Skenes, LSU rolled to its seventh College World Series championship.

Crews parlayed his collegiate career into a $9 million bonus from the Nats, the second-highest figure in Draft history behind only Skenes.