It’s a big night on South Capitol Street, and that would’ve already been the case without Dylan Crews crashing the proceedings. Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and the Yankees are in town, and that would be the big storyline under any other circumstances. But now we’ve got the added drama of the latest top prospect to debut for the Nationals.

Crews, who is in right field, joins a Nats lineup that already features James Wood, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. They’ll all be facing left-hander Nestor Cortes, who is having a decent but not great season. Cortes enters with a 4.00 ERA and 1.153 WHIP in 26 starts, his biggest issue an inability to keep the ball in the yard. Opponents have hit 21 homers off him, though only two in his last five starts. And in each of his last two starts, he’s tossed seven scoreless innings on three hits with zero walks. So the young Nationals have their work cut out for them. Crews, by the way, will bat second in his debut. (And for those who didn't hear the news Sunday night, Riley Adams was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to clear the roster spot for him.)

So does Mitchell Parker, who faces probably the toughest lineup he’s had to face yet as a big leaguer. The rookie lefty was really good against the Rockies last week (one run, five hits in seven innings) but in his previous start he was torched by the Phillies for nine runs in three-plus innings. Suffice it to say, the Yankees lineup bears more resemblance to the Phillies than the Rockies.

There are a few storm cells set to roll through the area this afternoon, but (fingers crossed) the forecast looks OK for this evening, setting up a big Monday at the ballpark.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs NEW YORK YANKEES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Storms ending, 83 degrees, wind 7 mph out to right field

ATLANTA – James Wood hasn’t been a big leaguer long enough to offer much advice to anyone, but he has been a big leaguer long enough to share some words of wisdom with Dylan Crews as the latter prepares to debut tonight for the Nationals.

“I remember it was a lot, in a good way,” Wood said of his first major league game just eight short weeks ago. “You’ve just kind of got to take it all in. You only get one of them. I’d just tell him to enjoy it.”

There are no shortage of similarities between the two events. Each highly rated outfield prospect will have debuted on a Monday night. Each in the first game of a weeklong homestand. Each against a team that hails from New York.

Here’s the biggest difference for Crews: His debut is coming against the Yankees, with Juan Soto (and, oh yeah, Aaron Judge) in the other dugout.

As far as star-studded debuts, this is about as big as it gets. Bryce Harper played his first big league game at Dodger Stadium, with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, but the most notable Dodger on the field that night in 2012 was Matt Kemp. Strasburg’s 2010 debut was perhaps the most hyped in history, but it came against an inferior Pirates club that had a young Andrew McCutchen leading off and – believe it or not – Lastings Milledge batting third.

ATLANTA – The Nationals determined Friday they were ready to promote Dylan Crews to the major leagues. But not until Monday, when the team opens a high-profile, three-game home series against the Yankees.

It all makes sense, of course. Teams are always going to try to let their top prospects debut at home, reaping the benefits of the extra attention (and extra ticket sales) that come with that. But it was impossible not to at least ponder one particular question Friday afternoon: If the Nats have already decided Crews is ready to play in the big leagues, why not call him up immediately?

That question became even more pertinent in the bottom of the second inning Friday night, when Alex Call came charging in from right field on a shallow fly ball and felt something snap in his left foot. As Call was being carted off the field in pain, it was only natural to wonder what the team would do to replace him, and whether Crews’ debut would suddenly be bumped up 48 hours.

“I don’t know that yet,” manager Davey Martinez said when asked directly about the possibility after the game, a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Braves. “I’ve got to talk to (general manager Mike Rizzo).”

It may become moot if Call’s injury turns out not to be as serious as it looked in the moment. He was cautiously optimistic by night’s end that he avoided catastrophe, that he had only felt the already stretched plantar fascia in his foot snap, which could actually relieve the pain he had been experiencing and allow him to return to the field in short order. Perhaps he might not even need to go on the injured list.

ATLANTA – The Nationals are calling up Dylan Crews to make his major league debut. Against Juan Soto and the Yankees.

Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in last summer’s draft, will be promoted from Triple-A Rochester prior to Monday night’s series opener against the Yankees, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. The 22-year-old outfielder’s first big league game will be a star-studded affair, with fellow top prospect James Wood joining him in the Nats lineup against a Bronx Bombers lineup led by Aaron Judge and former Nationals star Juan Soto.

The news of Crews’ pending promotion, which was first reported by 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen, comes three days prior to his planned debut. That mirrors the timeline the Nats used when promoting Wood to make his debut July 1, also the Monday night opener of a homestand, also against an opponent from New York (the Mets).

Unlike Wood (one of five prospects acquired from the Padres in the August 2022 blockbuster trade for Soto and Josh Bell), Crews hasn’t dominated in the minors this season. He enters Friday night’s game with a solid-but-unspectacular, .272/.343/.456 slash line, 21 doubles, 13 homers, 68 RBIs and 25 steals in 99 total games split between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. But Crews has steadily improved as the season has progressed and over his last 19 games sports a .309/.370/.531 slash line.

It remains to be seen how Crews fits into the Nationals lineup and outfield, but he has most frequently led off for Rochester while playing center field. He has, however, shifted to right field the last two days, and that figures to be his most likely initial position in the majors, with Wood starting in left field and Gold Glove Award candidate Jacob Young in center.

Watching the Nationals slog their way through Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to the Rockies, and contemplating a lineup that has been held to a grand total of 14 runs over its last six games (five of them losses), it was hard not to look forward and ask the question surely on everyone’s minds right now.

When is the rest of the calvary coming?

The Nats have been fielding a lineup for a while that does feature several potential young building blocks: James Wood, CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr., Keibert Ruiz, Jacob Young. The rest of the lineup, though, continues to feature placeholders, some of whom could theoretically be part of the long-term plan, though the odds are still against that actually coming to fruition.

So it’s not wrong to end each night looking not only at the major league box score, but at the Triple-A Rochester box score to check in on the big-name prospects who are still waiting for the call. Most notably, Dylan Crews and Brady House.

Crews is one of the top rated prospects in the sport, the second overall pick in last summer’s draft considered one of the surest bets in recent history. While the two players drafted directly before (Paul Skenes) and after (Wyatt Langford) have been big leaguers for months now, Crews remains a minor leaguer. One with good-but-not-great numbers.

The All-Star Game has come and gone, but we’ve still got one more day left in the All-Star break. No baseball will be played today. Come back Friday evening for that, when the Nationals open of a six-game homestand against the Reds and Padres.

The halfway point of the season has already long since come and gone. The Nats have played 97 games, so remarkably there are only 65 left. But this will be the start of the ceremonial second half of the season, and there is plenty to still take place before the 2024 campaign is over.

Here’s a look at the top storylines the Nationals figure to face over the next 2 1/2 months …

HOW GOOD IS WOOD?
James Wood has now spent two weeks in the big leagues, and there was a big difference between those two weeks. Week 1 saw the top prospect take the world by storm, crushing balls well over 100 mph, drawing six walks with only seven strikeouts and producing a .320/.452/.480 slash line. Week 2 saw the league start to figure him out and saw Wood start to get out of his comfort zone, striking out 13 times without drawing a walk and slashing .179/.207/.179. It’s far too soon to draw any real conclusions, but 2 1/2 months from now, we should have a really good idea just how good Wood is. Can he make the necessary adjustments at the plate and start consistently squaring up the ball again? Can he start to look more comfortable in left field? Is he ready to be the face of this franchise, or is that process going to take a bit more time?

CAN THE YOUNG PITCHING HOLD UP?
There was so much to like about the Nationals’ young starting pitchers from April through June, but we started to see some cracks in the foundation the last two weeks. The question: Are these guys starting to wear down, and is that going to continue in the second half? It would not be surprising if that happens to the least experienced of the group, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz. But MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin have been through this before, and both should know how to right their ships and stay strong through September. It’s going to be a real test for these guys, but it’s going to inform us a lot about their long-term viability.

James Wood and Dylan Crews are teammates again. And for the first time, they’re teammates one step away from the major leagues.

Wood was activated off the minor league injured list today, just as Crews was promoted from Double-A Harrisburg, putting the Nationals’ top two prospects together in tonight’s lineup for Triple-A Rochester. Crews will lead off for the Red Wings and start in center field. Wood will bat right behind him and start in left field.

“They’re part of our big future here, and the future’s looking bright,” Nats manager Davey Martinez said. “The fact they’re up at the highest level in the minor leagues only tells me that they’re getting close.”

Wood was already dominating Triple-A pitching and seemed on the cusp of a final promotion to D.C. when he suffered a hamstring strain May 23 and landed on the 7-day IL. He returns just shy of four weeks later, healthy and hoping to pick up where he left off before getting hurt, when he was batting .355 with a .465 on-base percentage and 1.062 OPS in 45 games.

Crews, meanwhile, got his much anticipated promotion to Triple-A after a strong month-plus in Harrisburg following a slow start to his season. The No. 2 pick in last summer’s draft had a .664 OPS with only three extra-base hits in April. Since then, he has produced an .834 OPS with 16 extra-base hits in 39 games.

While the Nationals enjoy Thursday’s off-day (and hopefully use it to break out of their offensive slump), let’s take a long overdue look at some of the top prospects down on the farm and not just the ones you know we’re going to talk about …

“You talk about the players, everybody talks about the one guy, but we got quite a few,” said manager Davey Martinez.

A Nats minor leaguer received some recognition over the past week, with Andrew Pinckney being named Eastern League Player of the Week on Monday.

“Pinckney won Player of the Week, which is awesome,” said Martinez. “Nobody talks about him, but he's a pretty good player.”

A fourth-round pick last year out of the University of Alabama, Pinckney slashed .429/.478/.905 with five extra-base hits and seven RBIs last week with Double-A Harrisburg. He’s slashing .279/.327/.396 with a .723 OPS, seven doubles, one triple, three homers, 19 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 38 games with the Senators.

Lane Thomas’ first rehab game in Harrisburg didn’t include any hits, but it did include a stolen base, an outfield assist and positive reports about the state of his left knee.

Thomas went 0-for-3 earlier today in his rehab debut, starting in right field for Double-A Harrisburg in an 11 a.m. matinee against Akron.

“He said he felt OK,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We’ll see how he comes out of it tomorrow, and if he’s good, we’ll try to get him at least four at-bats tomorrow.”

Out since April 23 with an MCL sprain in his left knee, Thomas was cleared to begin playing in games this week. He was thrown right into the leadoff spot in the Senators lineup and immediately reached base in the bottom of the first on a throwing error by Akron pitcher Ryan Webb. Thomas then stole second base, providing further evidence his knee is healed.

Thomas grounded out to short in his second at-bat, then grounded out to first base in his third and final at-bat of the day. He played a total of five innings in the field.

MIAMI – It was unfair and unrealistic to think Mitchell Parker would continue his dominant start to his major league career much longer. At some point, major league hitters would catch up to the 24-year-old.

Even the lowly Marlins, who own the second-worst record in the majors, have good big-league hitters in their lineup. And with two starts worth of video on Parker, it wasn’t going to be an easy walk in loanDepot park for the lefty.

And so it was that Parker ran into his first bit of adversity in his third major league start. But he continued to impress by battling it and grinding through four innings, allowing the Nationals to win their second game in a row against the Marlins. The win was mainly fueled by Jesse Winker’s grand slam, resulting in the Nats' 11-4 rout in front of an announced crowd of 12,695.

“Winker with the big blow," manager Davey Martinez said after the win. "He put us up top and I think the guys kind of loosened up a little bit. We started swinging our bats. ... It was a good day offensively, a good day. So we gotta come back and do it again tomorrow.”

Parker displayed great command in his first two starts by striking out 12 and issuing zero walks, which were an issue for him since he entered the Nats system as a 2020 fifth-round pick. The free passes came back to haunt him in the first inning as he issued the first two of his big league career to help Luis Arraez reach third base.

After making a point to keep a group of their top prospects together in the minors late last season and throughout big league camp this spring, the Nationals have split those players up to begin 2024.

James Wood, Trey Lipscomb, Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell III, Brady House and Yohandy Morales all finished the 2023 season with Double-A Harrisburg, an arrangement that allowed all to get comfortable playing with each other and to grow together on their eventual path to D.C.

But as the 2024 minor league season was set to begin, Wood and Lipscomb were bumped up to Triple-A Rochester, while the others all were re-assigned to Double-A for the time being.

Lipscomb, of course, never even played a game at Triple-A, promoted to make his major league debut after Nationals third baseman Nick Senzel fractured his right thumb during fielding drills prior to Thursday’s season opener in Cincinnati.

So it’s Wood all alone among the prospects in Rochester, though there are several other intriguing names playing for the Red Wings to begin the season.

Davey Martinez is about to begin his seventh season as the Nationals manager, by far the longest tenured skipper in team history.

He’s managed teams that have won a lot (2019) and teams that haven’t won a lot (2022). He’s managed veterans and youngsters alike. And he’s managed while making changes to his coaching staff over the years.

But to start the 2024 season, Martinez did something he hasn’t done much since donning a curly W cap: Be more vocal and hands-on during spring training.

Why after seven years did the 59-year-old suddenly decide to speak up more? The young prospects in major league camp had a lot to do with it.

“For me right now, it's about teaching and having these moments where I can get them and talk to them a little bit more,” Martinez said. “Maybe one-on-one, maybe in a group. I have been more vocal. … I preach so much about the little things, that the little things do matter. They've been great. They really have. It's been great conversations.”

Today is going to be an exciting day for the Nationals organization. For the first time, the team will host an exhibition game at Nationals Park with its major league players facing the top prospects from the minor league system.

It will be the big league team’s final tune-up before Opening Day on Thursday in Cincinnati, while the organization gets to showcase numerous talented young players in front of its fans who showed up on South Capitol Street and are watching from home on MASN.

After this afternoon’s game, players and staff members – both minor and major league – will attend the club’s annual Homecoming Gala this evening at The Anthem on the Southwest waterfront before dispersing to their respective starting points for the regular season.

One of the biggest names on the prospects team is Dylan Crews, last summer’s No. 2 overall pick out of Louisiana State University and the Nats’ top-ranked prospect, who revealed today he will start the season with Double-A Harrisburg after going back to the team’s facility in West Palm Beach for a couple of days.

“I'm gonna go to the gala and then go to West Palm after that,” Crews said this morning in front of his locker in the visitors clubhouse at Nats Park. “So probably be there for maybe a little less than a week and then head out to Harrisburg.”

The Nationals have broken camp. With spring training coming to a close, the team has left the warmth of West Palm Beach and returned to cold, damp Washington, D.C.

Ah, it must feel so good to be home.

Well, at least it must feel good to get the regular season started. The Nats have just one more exhibition game to play before heading to Cincinnati to face the Reds on Thursday for Opening Day. And the best part … they get to face some of their own teammates.

Yes, for the first time since the Nats have hosted an exhibition game on South Capitol Street right before the start of the season, they will face a lineup of their own top prospects instead of another major league team beginning the year on the East Coast.

Among the top prospects expected to participate in today’s game are:

The Nationals arrived back in D.C. last night and now only have one more exhibition game to play before heading to Cincinnati for Opening Day.

Once again, the Nats are hosting their exhibition finale on their home field on South Capitol Street. But for the first time, they are not playing another major league team set to open the regular season on the East Coast. Instead, the Nats’ regular big leaguers will play against a squad of the organization’s top prospects.

Headlined by Dylan Crews, James Wood, Brady House, Robert Hassell III and Trey Lipscomb, the Nationals announced the prospects roster for tomorrow’s “On Deck: Nationals Futures Game” at Nationals Park:

Pitchers – Brendan Collins, DJ Herz, Joe La Sorsa, Orlando Ribalta, Jackson Rutledge, Tyler Schoff, Jarlin Susana, Amos Willingham

Catchers – Drew Millas, Israel Pineda, Maxwell Romero Jr.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals moved a step closer to finalizing their Opening Day roster this afternoon, cutting nine players from big league camp, including top prospects James Wood, Dylan Crews and Brady House.

Wood, Crews and House were reassigned to minor league camp, along with lefties Richard Bleier and Joe La Sorsa; infielder Juan Yepez, outfielder Robert Hassell III and catcher Israel Pineda. Zach Davies was granted his unconditional release, making the veteran right-hander a free agent and seemingly keeping the Nats’ rotation intact heading into the season.

The demotions of Wood, Crews and House did not come as a huge surprise. None was expected to make the club coming into their first big league camp, though Wood made a strong case for himself with a dominant first week and ultimately a .342/.491/.707 slash line in 21 Grapefruit League games, including a team-high four homers.

For all his success this spring, though, Wood (like the others) has yet to spend a day at Triple-A Rochester, where he is likely to open the season. The 21-year-old outfielder figures to be in line to make his major league debut sometime this season, provided he stays healthy and continues to perform on the field.

Crews and House, two of the Nationals’ last three first-round draft picks, each had some positive moments this spring, most recently Crews’ walk-off single to seal Thursday afternoon’s win over the Twins. But both also looked overmatched at times against big leaguers, with Crews finishing with a .161/.297/.323 slash line in 19 games and House finishing 7-for-28 with one homer, zero walks and five strikeouts.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It was the bottom of the ninth on March 21, with the remnants of a crowd of 2,915 watching and a Double-A left-hander pitching for a Twins team that barely brought any major leaguers across the state with them for today’s exhibition game.

The Nationals had already scored the tying run, thanks to James Wood’s leadoff homer. Now there were two outs, the winning run leading off second base in the form of Alex Call, and Dylan Crews standing in the batter’s box with a chance to be the hero.

Crews has been a part of much bigger moments on a baseball field than this in his young life. Shoot, he celebrated a College World Series title only nine months ago. That didn’t diminish the stakes at all in his mind today.

“I mean, the way you prepare every day, and the way you treat every game, it should be like it’s a regular season game,” the 22-year-old outfielder said. “Or Game 7 of the World Series.”

So while Crews’ celebration after he ripped the RBI single to center that sealed the Nats’ 9-8 walk-off win looked muted to everyone watching, it was anything but muted inside his mind and his heart.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – All of the Nationals’ top prospects still in big league camp will be coming north with the team and will be at Nationals Park for Tuesday’s exhibition finale. Playing for the team of prospects set to face the Opening Day major league roster that afternoon.

The organization announced Tuesday that top prospects James Wood, Dylan Crews, Brady House, Trey Lipscomb and Robert Hassell III will be among the players participating in the first “On Deck: Nationals Futures Game.” The insinuation: None of those players is going to make the Opening Day roster, though all technically are still in the running heading into the final five days of spring training.

The Nationals did not reveal the full Prospects roster, but in addition to the above five players, they did say Darren Baker, Drew Millas, Jackson Rutledge, DJ Herz and Amos Willingham will be on the team. More names for the scheduled 12:05 p.m. game will be announced later.

The Nats have hosted an exhibition game on South Capitol Street nearly every season since the ballpark opened in 2008, but that game traditionally has been played against another major league club scheduled to open its regular season on the East Coast (often the Yankees or Red Sox). This year for the first time they will face top minor leaguers from the organization, giving many of them a chance to play in a big league stadium for the first time and fans a chance to see these young players in person for the first time.

A good number of those prospects, of course, have received plenty of playing time in major league camp this spring. And Wood, Crews, House, Lipscomb, Hassell and Millas all currently remain in camp, with 13 healthy players still needing to be cut to get the roster down to 26 in time for the March 28 season opener at Cincinnati.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Hello from Mets camp, where tonight the Nationals and Mets meet in Grapefruit League play. But first, we’ve got a special treat: The “Spring Breakout” game featuring top prospects from both clubs.

Now, to be fair, we’ve already seen the majority of these guys in big league camp this spring. But it’ll still be fun to see them all together at the same time, facing fellow top prospects from a division rival.

The lineup includes Dylan Crews, James Wood, Brady House and Trey Lipscomb. But it also includes Yoyo Morales, Andrew Pinckney and T.J. White, who will get a more prominent look today than they’ve received to date.

It’s only a seven-inning game, and there are a bunch of pitchers who need to appear. So Jackson Rutledge, even though he’s starting, is only going one inning, maybe two tops. We’ll see a lot of other intriguing young arms throughout the afternoon.

SPRING BREAKOUT: WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Clover Park, Port St. Lucie
Gametime: 3:10 p.m.
TV: MLB.tv (Mets feed)
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 11 mph out to left field

JUPITER, Fla. – The Nationals have a quick turnaround from Tuesday night’s game against the Mets to this afternoon’s game against the Marlins. That might explain why there are so many kids in Davey Martinez’s lineup. (Most veterans aren’t going to be asked to play spring training day games after night games.)

The good news is that we get to see James Wood, Dylan Crews and Trey Lipscomb all in the same lineup. Lipscomb, who started at second base Tuesday night, moves to third base today. Crews, it should be noted, is mired in a bit of a funk at the plate. He’s 0 for his last 8 with one walk and six strikeouts. Wood, meanwhile, is 2 for his last 13 after beginning the spring 9-for-19.

Jake Irvin gets the start for the Nats, hoping to build off a strong outing his last time on the mound. The right-hander shut out the Mets over four innings last week, striking out five without walking anybody. He’s probably assured of a spot in the Opening Day rotation, but another start like that would probably seal the deal.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:10 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: 980 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
LF Jacob Young
RF James Wood
DH Jesse Winker
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
SS Ildemaro Vargas
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Dylan Crews
1B Juan Yepez