CJ Abrams reached the 30-30 mark very recently. Nasim Nunez broke the Nationals team record for stolen bases. It has been a wonderful final wrap-up of the season. One last series remains against the New York Mets. If the team wins at least one game, they will clinch 4th place in the NL East.
I think that the key takeaway here is progress. The team did not reach the postseason, but nor were they expected to. After all, the team surpassed every prediction that our DistrictOnDeck writers made this past March. Abrams and Nunez gave the fans a couple of final things to celebrate - record marks and milestones.
CJ Abrams Joins the 30-30 Club
On Sunday, September 6, Abrams knocked his 30th home run of the season. On September 18, Abrams also stole his 30th base of the season. As of Thursday, September 24, Abrams now has a split of 33 home runs and 33 stolen bases.
With the season now nearly concluded, Abrams is most likely going to finish as the second-best hitter on the 2026 Nationals. He has a plus-24.0 offensive rating and 3.6 WAR, according to Fangraphs. He trails James Wood in both categories.
Though a bit far-fetched, we will now hope that Abrams can join the 35-35 club. Over the final three games, he needs at least two home runs and two stolen bases. Abrams has seven games in 2026 in which he has either two home runs or two stolen bases. He has done it twice over the past week (9/22, 9/19).
The milestone Abrams achieved put him on an exclusive and remarkably short list. He is the second National since the franchise moved to Washington, D.C to hit both 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. Alfonso Soriano did it in 2006. In fact, Soriano reached the 40-40 club with 46 home runs and 41 stolen bases.
Including the Expos' years, the franchise now has three players who have reached the 30-30 club, for a combined four instances. Vladimir Guerrero did it in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002.
Surely, the Nationals will be pressured to offer Abrams a long-term contract. He still has another year of pre-arbitration, and with a ton of young prospects, the team will have enough leverage in arbitration to push back. It will be an interesting storyline to follow this offseason.
Nasim Nunez Set a New Team Record
Nasim Nuñez continues to lead the league in stolen bases 💨 pic.twitter.com/4Oo51zwDwL
— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2026
On Wednesday, September 23, Nunez stole not one, but two bases against the Detroit Tigers. He has 49 grabs this season and now holds the franchise record.
Stolen base No. 48 was the one to take sole possession of the record. For safekeeping, Nunez, of course, had to grab another. With three games remaining, he may steal 50 bases. Across MLB history, 215 players have ever reached that bar.
Nunez's new record surpassed CJ Abrams' record of 47 stolen bases in 2023. Trea Turner stole 46 bases in 2017 and 43 in 2018, while Alfonso Soriano stole 41 in 2006. That rounds out all Nationals who have stolen 40+ bases.
However, when the Expos are included in the conversation, Nunez is actually quite far from the record. Ron LeFlore set the Expos record in 1980 by stealing a whopping 97 bases. Including Montreal, Nunez stands only 16th on the all-time list.
As good as Nunez did, he will not command a contract. He has one more year of pre-arbitration status. Nunez was quite poor on offense, with a -23.3 offensive rating. He was strong on defense with a plus-4.5 defensive rating. The Nationals expect to have Nunez around in 2027 to leverage his skill set.
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