KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Though he has played the full nine innings on back-to-back days for Triple-A Rochester, Dylan Crews will remain on his minor league rehab assignment for now.

Crews is staying with the Red Wings, who are off today, the Nationals announced. He’s then scheduled to play the outfield again Tuesday and Wednesday in Rochester against Syracuse.

Those will be Crews’ 12th and 13th games played on this rehab assignment, a longer stint than most injured major league position players typically serve. The Nats, though, want to see the 23-year-old not only prove he’s healthy but that he’s consistently productive at the plate again before they intend to activate him off the 60-day injured list.

Out since he strained his left oblique muscle on a May 20 check-swing, Crews began his rehab assignment with Rochester on July 29. The plan was to slowly build up his workload until he was able to play nine innings in the field on back-to-back days. He did that for the first time this weekend, playing all nine innings in right field both Saturday and Sunday at Norfolk.

Crews’ offensive production has been decent – he’s 10-for-36 with a double, two homers, seven RBIs, one walk and six strikeouts in 11 games – but the Nats appear to want to see more still before they deem him big league-ready again.

“To me, the most important is the timing. Getting the timing with the pitcher, feeling good about recovering,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “But the most important is timing, because I know he’s feeling good. His body is holding up good. We’re just waiting to see. Tomorrow, we’ll call him, or we’ll talk to (Rochester manager Matt LeCroy and hitting coach Brian Daubach) to see how he’s feeling, and we’ll take the next step.”

In delaying Crews’ return, the Nationals are also delaying the decision they’ll eventually face to remove one of the four young outfielders currently on their active roster. James Wood, of course is safe. That leaves Jacob Young (who has excelled defensively in center field but has a .563 OPS at the plate), Daylen Lile (.687 OPS but minus-11 Defensive Runs Saved) and Robert Hassell III (7-for-18 with four doubles, a homer and five RBIs in limited playing time during his second big league stint).

Cairo already has had to deal with spreading out playing time among those three players, with Hassell in the lineup less than Young and Lile. He said today he hesitated to play Hassell over the weekend in San Francisco, given the spacious outfield at Oracle Park. The rookie could be back playing Tuesday and Wednesday against the Royals.

“He’s going to be playing,” Cairo said. “Right now, we put two lineups in there (during Saturday and Sunday’s wins), and we got good production from the guys that we put in there. We’ve got two right-handers coming up (Tuesday and Wednesday); of course he’s going to be playing. We’re going to find a way to put him in there and get him some at-bats.”

* Josiah Gray continues to throw bullpen sessions in West Palm Beach, with no immediate plan to have him face live hitters for the first time since his Tommy John surgery.

Gray, who had elbow ligament replacement surgery and an internal brace procedure July 24, 2024, has now passed the one-year mark in his recovery. The right-hander has stated his goal of returning to make at least a few big league starts for the Nationals before season’s end, but he’ll need to go on a minor league rehab assignment before that and face live hitters in a controlled environment several times before that.

“That is a little more delicate, because he had Tommy John,” Cairo said. “I think they want to make sure he’s healthy enough when he starts facing hitters and stuff like that. We’ve got to be patient with that one.”

Asked if Gray has experienced any setbacks in his recovery, Cairo replied: “I don’t think so.”