Abrams scratched after jamming finger; Senzel to begin rehab

CJ Abrams was scratched from the Nationals’ lineup about two hours prior to first pitch, most likely still feeling the effects of Friday night’s slide into second base in which he jammed his left hand into the bag.

Rookie infielder Nasim Nuñez will take Abrams’ place at shortstop today against the Phillies, marking the Rule 5 Draft pick’s first career start in the major leagues.

Abrams lined a one-out single to right in the bottom of the third Friday night, advancing Luis García Jr. from second to third. Apparently believing García was going to attempt to score on the hit, he rounded first and continued to second, only to be thrown out when Bryce Harper cut off Nick Castellanos’ throw and relayed it to Trea Turner, who applied the tag in time. (García never attempted to score on the play, held up by third base coach Ricky Gutierrez.)

Abrams stayed on the ground for several seconds after the play, looking at his left hand, though he remained in the game and continued to play the rest of the way. He lined out to right his next time up and was robbed of a possible hit by left fielder Brandon Marsh in his final at-bat.

A Nationals lineup that has scored only 27 runs through seven games this season will miss Abrams’ presence. The 23-year-old leadoff man is slashing .321/.387/.607 with a team-leading two homers, five RBIs and three stolen bases.

Rather than attempt to replace Abrams atop the lineup, manager Davey Martinez decided to move everyone up a slot, making Lane Thomas the leadoff hitter and Joey Meneses the No. 2 batter. Both have struggled to begin the season, with Thomas just 2-for-28 and Meneses just 6-for-27 so far in 2024.

Nuñez, meanwhile, will bat ninth and play shortstop, the first time he’s been in the lineup as a big leaguer. The 23-year-old, selected away from the Marlins in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft, has appeared in two games to date, once as a pinch-runner and once as a defensive replacement at second base.

* Nick Senzel fractured his right thumb only nine days ago, but he’s already good to begin playing in minor league games.

Senzel is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg on Tuesday, an impressively quick recovery from the injury.

The 28-year-old third baseman was taking ground balls during batting practice prior to last Thursday’s season opener in Cincinnati when one took a bad hop and caught him on his throwing hand. He had to be scratched from the lineup and wound up being placed on the 10-day injured list before ever making his debut for the Nats.

The fracture was relatively minor, though, at the tip of the thumb. And it has healed enough within the last week to allow him to take batting practice and make throws in the field, clearing the way now for game action.

“When it first happened and we talked to the doctors, it was: ‘Just get the swelling down,’” Martinez said. “It’s basically a pain tolerance thing then. My biggest thing was the throwing. And he threw well yesterday.”