CJ

Abrams

A very strange statline for Abrams that will be great for his on-base percentage. His Nationals were shutout, but he got himself on base every time he came to the plate. It’s been a banner season for him so far with a .367 batting average and 1.175 OPS through 18 games. He’s hitting the ball harder than he ever has and our fingers are crossed that his breakout is finally here.

Maybe it’s time for the Nationals to move Abrams back up in the lineup? He was still fifth tonight, but he’s hitting an exceptional .356/.426/.695 with six homers and 19 RBI. Only Andy Pages, with 20, has more RBI this season.

Abrams opened the scoring with a first-inning solo shot against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, sending a fly ball into the right-field seats for his fifth round-tripper of the year already. The 25-year-old speedster is off to a phenomenal start at the dish, hitting .327 (18-for-55) with five homers, 17 RBI and four steals through 15 games.

Abrams smacked a two-out, RBI double off of Aaron Ashby in the top half of the first inning that increased the Nationals’ edge to 2-0. He was then plunked by Trevor Megill to start their game-winning rally in the ninth and scored the go-ahead run on Luis Garcia Jr.'s RBI single. He’s off to a blazing start offensively in 2026, slashing .311/.415/.600 with four homers, 15 RBI, nine runs scored and four stolen bases in his first 12 games.

Abrams did make an error that allowed a run to score, but outside of that it was a solid game from the 25-year-old shortstop. The pair of steals gives him four in 10 games played, and he’s slashing an excellent .308/.413/.615 over 39 at-bats.

Abrams drew a walk in the fourth inning and stole second for his first steal of the season before scoring a run. He drew another walk in the sixth and later went yard for a two-run homer in the eighth. The 25-year-old shortstop has now homered in three straight games, collecting 12 RBI in the early going.

One of the two times he was retired came on a double-play ball that had an xBA of .530. Abrams has always hit well against the Dodgers -- he was a career .292/.363/.639 hitter against the Dodgers in 18 games started before this one. He’s gotten off to a .280/.333/.520 start with two homers so far, but fantasy managers would love to see him start stealing some bags as he’s still stuck on zero so far.

Abrams was away from the team Saturday due to a death in his family. Nasim Nuñez will get the start at second base after filling in at short for that contest, and Luis Garcia begins Sunday’s contest on the bench.

The Athletic’s Spencer Nusbaum reports Abrams is away from the team because of a death in the family. It’s possible he’ll be placed on the bereavement list to open up a roster spot if he’s going to be away from the club for a couple days. It’ll be Nasim Nuñez, who is a strong waiver wire pickup in deeper mixed leagues, taking over at shortstop on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Abrams absolutely crushed the hit off Matthew Boyd in the fourth, with the 110.8 mph liner sailing a projected 361 feet down the right-field line. That would have made it a homer everywhere except Wrigley, which, unfortunately for Abrams, is where the Nationals happened to be playing today. Abrams stood and watched it, resulting in him being thrown out at second by Matt Shaw. The Nationals didn’t respond by sitting him afterwards, but they couldn’t have been pleased by this poor judgment.