LSU coach Jay Johnson in attendance for Dylan Crews MLB debut

Dylan Crews will have plenty of familiar faces on hand in Washington to support him on Monday as he makes his MLB debut for the Nationals against the New York Yankees. One person close to Crews who will be in attendance is LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson.

Daren Stoltzfus caught up with Johnson Monday afternoon outside of Nations Park. He shared with Stoltzfus that there was no way he was going to miss Dylan Crews’ first MLB game.

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“It wasn’t hard,” Jay Johnson said of his decision to attend the game. “I was kind of trying to kick the tires a little bit last week. He had been playing so well. And it’s like, ‘Alright, I have to be able to fit this in and make sure we can get up here.’ So when I found out it was today it was perfect.”

Dylan Crews is playing right field and batting second for the Nationals on Monday.

Jay Johnson has big expectations for Crews, who led LSU to a national title before being the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s MLB Draft.

“In my opinion, maybe the best position player in college baseball history,” Johnson said. “And the Nationals fans here, they’ll really come to appreciate the whole part of Dylan, what he’ll do for the community, how he’ll represent the city.”

Johnson also shared what his message is to Crews ahead of his first MLB game.

“Just that I’m proud of him. I’m proud of him,” Jay Johnson said. “He knows how to handle himself. And I enjoy the fact that we still talk. He was down for the all-star break for a couple of days and sat there for an hour and a half like it was the middle of the season last year. Truly a special person, great family. I’m just excited to be here and support him tonight.”

Dylan Crews has been playing at Triple-A Rochester since June after starting the 2024 season at the Double-A level.

During his time at Double-A and Triple-A this year Crews is hitting .272 with 21 doubles, 6 tiples, 13 home runs and 68 RBIs across 99 games.

He hit .426 with a .567 on-base percentage in 2023, helping the Tigers win the national championship. Crews added 18 home runs, 70 RBIs and scored 100 runs. He was named the Golden Spikes Award winner.

“I will go as far as to say he was the reason I accepted the job to come to LSU, you know, knowing that I would be able to coach him for two years. And the impact he had was instrumental, not just on the field, being the best player in the country, Golden Spikes winner,” Jay Johnson said. “But to be a leader, to be a guy that bought in immediately. And when a player of his caliber buys in immediately to something you’re doing as a new coach, it has an unbelievably positive ripple effect, which culminated in a national championship. So super proud of him.”