Dylan Crews addresses how LSU is handling high expectations in postseason

Expectations are high for LSU and star outfielder Dylan Crews, to say the least, heading into postseason play this year. The preseason No. 1 team in the country, the Tigers have remained one of the top teams in the country throughout the entirety of the season.

The group has been led by Crews and pitcher Paul Skenes, both of whom are considered potential No. 1 picks in the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft. They are the top two prospects in MLB.com’s draft prospect rankings.

With high team goals and personal goals swirling around in Baton Rouge, Crews said that he doesn’t expect anything to get to the team since that’s something that comes with being a baseball player at LSU.

“We’re all mentally sharp right now, to be honest,” Crews said ahead of the SEC Tournament. “We know there’s a lot of expectations for us and we’re trusting the guy next to us every day. This isn’t new for us. It’s always been a program of excellence and expectations. But we’re not really listening to anything outside of the locker room and just trusting the guy next to us.”

Crews was named SEC Player of the Year for the second straight time this week, becoming the first player in conference history to do that. Only former Florida slugger Matt LaPorta has been a two-time Player of the Year, winning in both 2005 and 2007.

He has reached base in 59 straight games dating back to last season. Crews is hitting .429 on the season with a .580 on-base percentage and .730 slugging percentage to go along with 14 home runs and 78 runs scored.

Skenes won the SEC Pitcher of the Year award with. Only two other duos have swept the SEC Player and Pitcher of the Year awards: Georgia‘s Gordon Beckham and Joshua Fields in 2008 and Florida’s Jonathan India and Brady Singer in 2018.

LSU head coach Jay Johnson said that while he wants to win the SEC tournament title, his top priority is to what is best to give his team a chance to make it to Omaha.

“It’s such a unique situation. This team has done such a good job with the regular season schedule. We’ve played our way to where we want to be (and) will be playing postseason baseball at home,” Johnson said. “So, ultimately, I want these guys to get to Omaha, I want them to experience Omaha. We’ve done what we needed to do in regard to that.”