X-rays negative after Young HBP; Crews expected to join Nats (source)

WASHINGTON -- On a night when the Nationals had many chances to secure their first walk-off of the season, the attention following their 16-7 loss to the Mets in 12 innings was instead on Washington’s outfield situation.

After two-time Gold Glove-finalist Jacob Young was hit by a pitch and exited in the second inning on Monday night, Washington intends to call up Dylan Crews from Triple-A Rochester, a source confirmed to MLB.com. The Nationals optioned third baseman Brady House postgame, which will likely be the corresponding move for Crews’ addition to the 26-man roster.

In Young's first plate appearance of the night, he wore a 93.1 mph four-seam fastball from Mets starter Christian Scott on his left ribs. Young dropped to the ground in apparent pain and was immediately attended to by the Nationals’ medical staff before walking off the field under his own power.

X-rays were negative, showing just a bruise -- the best-case scenario for Young. He is considered day to day and will be reevaluated on Tuesday.

“No fracture; just a contusion right now,” manager Blake Butera said. “We'll see how he comes in [feeling] in the morning.”

Young was replaced by pinch-runner Joey Wiemer, who remained in the game in center field and came around to score in Washington’s two-run second inning. And it was Wiemer who, in the third inning, hit an RBI single to (briefly) give Washington a lead.

Ironically, Wiemer also wore a pitch -- a fastball from Luke Weaver that hit his left hand -- to give Washington a pair of baserunners with just one out in the ninth, though they were unable to capitalize on any of their extra-innings chances.

Despite having trouble swinging, Wiemer reached base for a fifth time in the 11th, when he hit an RBI single to tie the game and send it to the 12th. He became the seventh player since 1900 to reach base at least five times in a game he did not start.

“I was surprised he swung in his last at-bat, with the infield-in chopper,” Butera said. “We were going to hit for him there at the end [in the 12th inning], because he couldn't swing.”

Wiemer, like Young, only has a bruise and is considered day to day.

Losing Young, who has a career 5.0 bWAR and earned three MLB Play of the Week honors last season, is a big blow -- far bigger than the loss. Young had been finding increased success at the plate, with a .234 average in his past seven games, while holding down the center-field fort in his usual elite manner.

“[Young's] such a great player,” Butera said. “Obviously, there’s what he brings defensively, [and] he's been swinging the bat well. Hopefully, this isn't anything that takes too long, but we'll know a lot more tomorrow.”

Luckily for the Nats, they had Crews stashed away, working on his swing.

Crews, who was optioned to Rochester to start the season, was thought of as the Nationals’ next big outfield star when he was drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in 2023. But after hitting .211 in 116 games between the 2024 and ‘25 seasons -- and following a lackluster spring -- Washington opted to get the 24-year-old regular at-bats in a less intense environment. Crews was optioned to Triple-A on March 20.

Crews got off to a slow start with the Redbirds but has been raking of late, slashing .291/.339/.527 in May. His other metrics have improved, too. In 2025, Crews had a 38.7% hard-hit rate. So far at Triple-A, his hard-hit rate has been 52.3% -- a pretty significant improvement. The same can be said of Crews’ barrel rate, up to 13.8% from 9.8% last season.

Those improvements, while they don’t seem like major jumps, are huge. The Major League average in barrel rate this year is 8.3%, while the average hard-hit rate is 39.6%. And, at least with the Redbirds, Crews is far exceeding those numbers. (For context, the Nationals as a whole are averaging a 9.0% barrel rate and a 39.4% hard-hit rate.)

Being without Young hurts. But getting a better-swinging Crews back could be a big help. Only time will tell.