Dylan Crews regained his confidence at Triple-A Rochester. He returns to the Nationals with a new outlook.

Dylan Crews was happy to see his teammates, and everyone was happy to see him.

With Crews’ name plate back atop his locker at Nationals Park, he made the customary walk around the clubhouse to shake hands with his teammates. He looked rejuvenated. He looked assured. The time at Triple-A Rochester seemed to reinvigorate him.

“I learned that I’m pretty good,” Crews said Tuesday when asked what he had learned about himself. “So [it’s about] trusting that whatever I do is enough.”

The team officially recalled Crews and first baseman Andrés Chaparro from Triple-A Rochester and optioned outfielder Joey Wiemer to Triple-A on Tuesday; third baseman Brady House was optioned after Monday’s extra-innings loss to the Mets.

The Nationals are optimistic that Crews’ work at Triple-A to start the season will help the 24-year-old stay in the majors for good. With the Red Wings, Crews worked at getting his best swing off in the heart of the zone and adjusting his posture at the plate. He’s now standing up a bit taller to avoid relying on his legs as much to hit balls in the air more regularly.

When Crews was optioned out of spring training, the front office thought the minor setback would be beneficial in the long run for the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft. The previous regime rushed him to the majors, and he floundered.

As 2023 No. 1 draft pick and former LSU teammate Paul Skenes made his assimilation to major-league play look seamless, Crews posted a .634 OPS over 116 major league games.

Even with Crews at Triple-A, the major league staff was still involved in his development. Crews said that he had regular contact with assistant hitting coach Shawn O’Malley and hitting coach Matt Borgschulte.

“We made the commitment to Dylan from when we made the decision in spring training that we were going to stay really close to him,” president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said.

Though Crews was a draft pick of former general manager Mike Rizzo’s front office, Toboni has remained steadfast in his belief that Crews is a major part of what he wants to build in Washington. Toboni said that each morning he watches the at-bats from the previous Red Wings game, and that things started to click for Crews around three weeks ago.

Toboni saw that Crews was impressive in his temperament and dedication to his day-to-day work and was crushing balls at a high rate.

Both Crews and the Nationals are in different spots than they were in late March. Crews is not expected to be a savior of sorts. He rejoins a Nationals team that has over-performed expectations, in part because of a dangerous offense that entered Tuesday leading the majors in total runs scored (262).

But there are always going to be lofty expectations hovering over Crews, given his status as a high draft pick and top prospect. That’s why it was necessary for him to go to Triple-A Rochester to hone his game. His every at-bat wouldn’t be analyzed and scrutinized.

“[I was] never [thinking] about being called back up,” Crews said. “I was just so focused on the process down there and trying to stack good days together and be present as much as I could.”

He returns to the majors with a new perspective on the game. He’s trying to find the little positives, whether it’s moving a guy over or getting the ball in the air for a sacrifice fly.

Manager Blake Butera said that it’s his job and the coaching staff’s job to help Crews understand what’s in his control and help him block out the outside noise and focus on playing baseball.

“When you’re in the major leagues, everything you do is elevated, right?” Butera said. “When you’re able to go Triple-A and work on things that you want to work on and not be afraid to make mistakes and learn what you can and can’t do, you get outside your comfort zone a bit without the fear of seeing this stuff on TV all the time.”

These last two years have likely been the first time in Crews’ life that he struggled in baseball. For players as talented as he is, their paths are often linear until they get to the majors.

But perseverance is an important part of baseball, where failure and slumps are inevitable. Crews had to go through the struggle, and now it’s on him to see the type of player that emerges on the other side.

“This game will beat you down, and you got to figure [out] ways to get back up,” he said. “You got to find little successes in everything that you do, whether that’s hitting, fielding, running, base running, whatever that is, and keep stacking good days.”