On Friday night, the offense of the Washington Nationals unfortunately fell flat. After a stretch in which they had been on fire coming into the series opener against the New York Mets, things did not end up going their way. They mustered just 1 run as they fell 4-1 against their National League East rival, but this would end up the least discussed thing that happened to the Nationals on Friday.
While the lineup has been a little bit more inconsistent without guys like James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr., and Curtis Mead in the lineup every day, they still have stayed afloat largely due to their other All-Star. That would be CJ Abrams, who received some very important news regarding his future as a baseball player before Friday night's game.
Nationals finally move CJ Abrams off shortstop after continued struggles
After years of many people wondering if it was going to happen, the Nationals finally made a difficult decision that should prove to be a good one in the long run. While Abrams has obviously been the best offensive shortstop in baseball this season, with an All-Star Game start at the position to prove it, he has long been known as a defensive liability at shortstop.
The new regime wanted to give him a chance to prove he belonged at the position long-term, but even after working with new coaching, things just were not clicking for him. As such, the Nationals will be moving Abrams to second base, with Nasim Nuñez set to be the immediate beneficiary and expected to take the lion's share of reps at shortstop. This was a decision made by President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, General Manager Ani Kilambi, and skipper Blake Butera, according to Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic.
Abrams' transition has already begun, but it is unlikely the team will actually see him at second base for a few days as he continues to get acclimated to the position. Given his athleticisim, he should be able to make a smooth transition to the other side of the bag in a similar way to Ketel Marte or Marcus Semien, both of whom were great hitters that couldn't stick at shortstop defensively, but ended up becoming two of the most well-rounded second baseman in the game.
Ketel Marte has always been my ideal comparison for Abrams if he were to move across the diamond, as Abrams' bat at a position as thin as second base could make him arguably the game's best at the position almost immediately. At shortstop, he always had the porous defensive metrics weighing down his overall argument, but he should be much better off at second base moving forward.
What do you think of the impending move of CJ Abrams to second base? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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