Jay Johnson congratulates Dylan Crews on being drafted

The LSU Tigers have been having a historic draft on Sunday night in the 2023 MLB Draft. Two former Tiger stars went back-to-back at No. 1 and No. 2 overall. First, it was ace Paul Skenes, then at No. 2, slugger Dylan Crews was selected by the Washington Nationals. On Sunday evening, LSU Tigers head baseball coach Jay Johnson dropped a video on his team’s Twitter page congratulating Crews for being drafted.

Here’s his message below.

Jay Johnson congratulates Crews on his big moment on Sunday

"You were a large reason why I chose to come to LSU…"@LSUCoachJ congratulates @__dc4__ on being drafted pic.twitter.com/8e0atTGudJ

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) July 10, 2023

LSU outfielder Dylan Crews has officially heard his name called in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Washington Nationals selected him with the No. 2 overall pick.

Crews put together a banner season in 2023, hitting .426 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI to help lead LSU to a national championship. His efforts earned him the Golden Spikes Award as the top player in college baseball, and he beat out teammate Paul Skenes for the honor. He’s the second LSU player to ever win the Golden Spikes, joining Ben McDonald.

In LSU’s College World Series-clinching victory over Florida, Crews — like many of the Tigers — had a monster day at the plate. He went 4-for-6 with an RBI and three runs scored to help LSU to the 18-4 blowout victory to bring home the seven CWS title in program history.

More on the 2023 MLB Draft

The 2023 Major League Baseball Draft will begin during All-Star week, with the first two rounds getting underway at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. Rounds 3-10 will then begin at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10, with rounds 11-20 starting at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 11.

This year’s MLB Draft is a historic one, as a draft lottery was used to determine the order for the first time. The Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics each had a 16.5% chance to receive the No. 1 overall pick. Ultimately, Pittsburgh won the right to have the first selection, with Washington finishing right behind them at No. 2. Oakland, however, fell all the way down to No. 6 overall.

While the MLB Draft is always unpredictable, the consensus is that this year’s top prospects both hail from LSU, who won the 2023 College World Series. Pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews headline this year’s class, which is considered a deep one.

Within the first ten rounds of the draft, each slot is assigned a certain value. Each team has a bonus pool that they are able to spend on these picks, and players will sign at, above or below their assigned slot value.

In rounds 11-20, there is no assigned slot value and MLB teams are free to spend up to $150,000 to sign their picks from the second half of the draft. If they exceed the $150,000 mark, that added amount will be deducted from their bonus pool.

Following the final day of the 2023 MLB Draft, selected players will have until August 1 to sign a contract.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.