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PLAYER REVIEW: CJ ABRAMS
Age on Opening Day 2026: 25
How acquired: Traded with James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022
MLB service time: 3 years, 130 days
2025 salary: $780,600
Contract status: Arbitration-eligible, free agent in 2029
2025 stats: 144 G, 635 PA, 580 AB, 92 R, 149 H, 35 2B, 5 3B, 19 HR, 60 RBI, 31 SB, 3 CS, 37 BB, 125 SO, .257 AVG, .315 OBP, .433 SLG, .748 OPS, 111 OPS+, -6 DRS, -11 OAA, 3.3 bWAR, 3.1 fWAR
Quotable: “You learn from all the losses. Just keep getting better. You never stop. Don’t get down on yourself. Take a little break, get back to work, and then we’ll be back at it in spring training.” – CJ Abrams
2025 analysis: The spotlight shone brightly on Abrams when he reported for spring training, with pressure on the young shortstop to rebound from a frustrating second half to the 2024 season that concluded with a disciplinary demotion to the minors in late-September. And to his credit, he handled it all as well as the Nationals could have hoped, saying the right things and conducting himself the right way on and off the field throughout the spring and into the start of the season.
And just as he did in 2024, Abrams put together a first half worthy of an All-Star selection. He didn’t get the nod this time, but his numbers certainly were good enough: a .287/.353/.483 slash line with 20 doubles, 12 homers and 20 stolen bases in 80 games. It was nearly a carbon copy of his first half numbers from the previous year.
But as was the case in 2024, Abrams slumped in the second half. A lot. And this time, he progressively got worse as the rest of the season played out. After delivering an OPS over .820 in April, May and June, he saw that number drop to .704 in July, .655 in August and .579 in September, all the while his walk rate decreasing while his strikeout rate increased.
Abrams also regressed in the field. After committing nine errors over his first 89 games, he was charged with 13 over his final 53 games (including four in five days at one point in September). And that doesn’t include a number of makeable plays that were not made, most of them sloppy mistakes that left the coaching staff scratching its collective head.
2026 outlook: As he prepares to enter his fourth full big league season, Abrams has firmly established a few things about himself. He’s got one of the best power-speed combinations among big league shortstops, averaging 31 doubles, six triples, 19 homers and 36 steals. He’s capable of playing quality defense at times. And he’s way better in the first half than the second half, which has prevented him from truly becoming an elite ballplayer.
There are things about Abrams that probably can’t be changed. He’s an extremely aggressive swinger: More of his plate appearances ended on the first pitch (84) than reached a full count (67). He doesn’t draw many walks (5.8 percent rate). He’s an elite baserunner (96th percentile). He doesn’t have elite range at shortstop. But in spite of those flaws, he’s still produced anywhere between 3.3 and 3.5 bWAR each of the last three seasons.
The question is whether there are still things about Abrams that can be changed. Can he become more consistent in all phases of the game and avoid the prolonged slumps that have hurt him in the past? Can he become a 30-homer player instead of a 20-homer player? And, most importantly, can he become a steadier presence at shortstop, perhaps not making more spectacular plays but at least making all the routine ones with better focus and fundamentals?
The Nationals’ new leadership needs to decide the answers to all of those questions, with the defensive question possibly at the top of the list. More than a few observers have wondered if Abrams might be better-suited to play second base than shortstop. There’s some logic to that line of thinking, but defensive improvement still requires better fundamentals and focus, no matter the position.
