It's revisionist history to say
Dylan Crews was the undisputed top hitter in this class pre-draft. Some analysts preferred Wyatt Langford's bat. Now, after Crews went No. 2 overall and struggled in a small sample above Single-A while Langford went No. 4 overall and was arguably the most dangerous hitter in the minors during his climb to Triple-A, the vast majority of analysts and prospectors prefer Langford. The two college outfielders will be linked in the coming years, but for now, Langford could win a big-league job in spring training and Crews appears ticketed back to Double-A, where he slashed .208/.318/.278 with zero home runs and 19 strikeouts in 20 games. He struck out at a surprisingly high 26.8 percent clip in 14 games at Single-A, and Langford wasn't the only college hitter from last year's class to outproduce Crews in the upper levels -- Matt Shaw and Kyle Teel excelled at Double-A. Crews has a superb track record of production in high school and at LSU, with his OBP skill being his top trait. He has the raw power and future home park to hit 25-plus homers annually, although it will be worth tracking his groundball rate (47.2% at Double-A). Crews has the speed to steal 20 bases early in his career, but he should slow down in his late-20s. He has the talent and pedigree to attack the upper levels with vengeance early this season and get in the mix for a big-league call-up, and unlike Langford's situation in Texas, Crews will have no competition for playing time whenever he is deemed ready.
