Kendall Rogers compares Jace LaViolette to Dylan Crews ahead of 2025 season

The Texas A&M Aggies are entering the 2025 season with one of the best players in all of college baseball with outfielder Jace LaViolette looking a potentially be the first overall pick in the MLB Draft. He’s so talented, in fact, that he has earned comparisons to Dylan Crews.

Ahead of the season, Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball even compared the two based on how they’ve been regarded by scouts going back to their high school days. So, it’s not a surprise they ended up being similar college players.

“What’s really interesting about him is coming out of high school the knock on him from scouts was that he either didn’t have a lot of confidence at the plate,” Kendall Rogers said. “He swung and missed a lot. And what’s really funny about that is those are the two critiques scouts had about Dylan Crews. Obviously, Player of the Year, ended up getting a lot of money in the draft.”

Dylan Crews originally got to LSU in 2021. By 2023, his final season with the program, he was able to hit .426 with a .567 OBP and a 1.280 OPS. He had 18 home runs and 70 RBIs in that season, in which LSU won the College World Series. He ended up being the second overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, only going behind fellow Tiger Paul Skenes, and made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals on August 26th, 2024.

“Jace is kind of following that same pathway,” Rogers said. “It’s the same concerns. It’s the same production after he got on campus in college.”

Jace LaViolette, like Dylan Crews, is an outfielder in the SEC who comes into the 2025 season expecting to be a very high MLB Draft pick. That’s after he hit .305 with a .449 OBP and a 1.175 OPS last season. He did that with 29 home runs and 78 RBIs.

“The thing about him is, I think, you look back to last year the average wasn’t quite what it could be but I think he’s one of these guys this year that I think he’s hitting .320 – .340 with comparable or better power numbers,” Rogers said. “I also think he’s a really special player. Honestly, getting the fall off. Getting the ability to rest that injury, rest his body, I think is really going to pay off for him.”

Jace LaViolette and Texas A&M will begin their 2025 campaign on February 14th when they open the season against Elon.