Crews up House down and other things

Jacob Young was hit by a pitch and is nursing bruised ribs, affecting outfield defense. Young is viewed as the defensive glue in center field, while other options are considered weaker defenders, leaving the team needing better coverage. Joey Weimer was optioned because he is not a center fielder, forcing the Nationals to look to the minors. Dylan Crews was promoted as a potential star and gifted fielder, with recent minor-league improvement toward roughly .300/.370/.525, despite strikeout and walk concerns. Brady House was sent down due to continued struggles at the plate and negative defensive impact. Andres Chaparro was also added to fill the roster needs created by these changes.

"Yesterday they officially sent Brady House down and optioned Joey Weimer to make room for Dylan Crews and Andres Chaparro to come up. Why? Well sort of because Jacob Young got hit by a pitch."

"Jacob defensively is the glue that holds the OF together. Lile, although showing a little better this year, is not seen as a great defender. Wood, despite that speed shown off by his inside the park HR, is just bad. Young is one of the better CF in the game and can help compensate for these issues a bit, important for a team already struggling with defense."

"Crews is the guy they WANT to be here as a star and he is generally seen as a gifted fielder. After a slow start in the minors, he was hitting much better over the past few weeks - something close to .300 / .370 / .525. The warning signs of a ton of Ks and limited BBs are still there but he'd only have to keep this up for a week or two more for you to really start thinking about giving him another shot."

"But what about House and Chaparro? That's a little harder to figure. House had not turned the corner this season so far, but he had been better especially in the power department. But he still wasn't swinging well, relying on just swinging hard and the occasional right guess to keep production up. To make matters worse he was a big negative in the field, a surprise after last years modest performance."

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