Absence of Dylan Crews Sheds Light On Key Washington Nationals Problem

While Dylan Crews has failed to find consistent success at the Major League level for the Washington Nationals to this point in his young career, he was starting to turn things around before his recent stint on the injured list.

Over a nine-game stretch from May 10 through May 20, leading into his placement on the IL, Crews batted .259/.394/.593 with three home runs and eight RBI across 33 plate appearances. He has shown those flashes of brilliance in the past, but never over such an extended period of time.

It is not the offensive production from Crews that the Nationals are missing without him in the lineup, however. But there is one thing that has become more evident with the rookie on the injured list: the lineup is far too lefty-heavy.

Washington Nationals Lineup Overly Lefty-Heavy Without Dylan Crews

While it is not always a bad thing to have more left-handed batters than right-handed, Washington has taken it to a whole different level.

In Friday night's game alone, only one right-handed batter saw a plate appearance, and it came from Jake Call as a pinch hitter. The starting lineup held seven left-handed batters and two switch hitters.

While it has been an issue all year, it has become even more evident with Crews, a righty, out of the picture. Even the player called up to fill his spot during his absence, Robert Hassell III, is a lefty.

With the Nationals not quite being on the level of a true contender this year, it may not be something the front office sees as a priority to fix. But with players like CJ Abrams, James Wood, and MacKenzie Gore taking even more steps forward in their development this year, that window of contention could be closer to opening than was originally expected.

Having Crews in the lineup helps spread the left-handed hitters out more, making it harder for opposing managers to navigate through the later innings with their bullpen. Without Crews, expect the team to see a plethora of hard-throwing lefty relievers early and often.