Nationals’ CJ Abrams will now split time between second base and shortstop

The Nationals’ future shortstop roamed the field Monday at Nationals Park.

But who exactly that player will be is undetermined. The Nationals announced their minor league awards Monday, so some of their top prospects — Maxwell Romero Jr., Miguel Sime Jr., Seaver King and Eli Willits — spent the day at the ballpark. The organization’s future shortstop could be Seaver King, who won the minor league Hitter of the Year award and has raked across multiple levels while striving to improve defensively.

Or perhaps it’s 2025 No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits, who’s the surest bet in the system to remain at the position long-term because of his incredible defensive ability.

What about National League All-Star CJ Abrams?

Before Monday’s 6-3 win against the Marlins, manager Blake Butera announced that Abrams would move to a more 50-50 split between second base and shortstop. This came two weeks after Butera announced the team intended to move Abrams to second base.

For his part, Abrams appreciates the chance to continue getting reps at the position he has played for the majority of his life.

“Because I see myself as a shortstop and [think] that I can be a great shortstop,” Abrams told The Banner on Tuesday. “Being able to have a chance to show [the front office] that, it is big. And then in the offseason we’ll work and hopefully come back as shortstop only next year.”

Butera said that since the organization announced the decision to move Abrams to second base on Aug. 14, they have been impressed with his play at his preferred position.

“I told CJ, ‘If you keep playing shortstop like that, you’re gonna play some more shortstop,’” Butera said Monday. “I don’t think the original conversation was to necessarily motivate him to play a better shortstop, but I also don’t think, I’m doing my job if I’m not watching how he’s playing shortstop, and if he continues to get better and there’s more urgency like we’ve seen since that conversation a few weeks ago ... I think it’s my job to make sure that we’re putting him in the best position to have success and make our team have success.”

Abrams has played a solid shortstop over the past couple weeks — including an incredible throw on the run Friday — but advanced statistics have not been kind to him over the course of the season. He’s tied with Willy Adames with a minus-17 outs above average — a metric that measures range and how many outs a player has saved — the worst mark among shortstops in the majors.

And in the more traditional statistic of errors, he is tied with the Marlins’ Otto Lopez for the second-most among shortstops.

Plus, the organization didn’t even get to see how Abrams handled second base. Since the change was announced, Abrams played just one game at second, five at shortstop and six at designated hitter.

Abrams doesn’t know why there’s been a sudden change, but he’s pleased to get more run at shortstop.

President of baseball operations Paul Toboni spoke Tuesday and left the door cracked for Abrams to continue as the team’s shortstop while lauding his professionalism in how he’s handled the switch. Toboni wants Abrams to get comfortable at second base for the versatility it affords the lineup, but also put the ball in Abrams’ court on where he’s playing long term.

He also said the organization didn’t cave into Abrams’ displeasure with moving off shortstop by agreeing to the part-time split.

“We don’t want to be overly rigid in our thoughts on where he’s got to play in the future,” he said. “If you show that you’re a stud at shortstop going forward, the more games that you stack being a stud at shortstop, the higher the likelihood is that you’re going to get more run there. So try and view it pretty reasonably, and I think he appreciates it.”

Despite the story the defensive metrics paint, Abrams is confident his athleticism can translate to shortstop, with an offseason focused on his defense. He’s spent previous winters honing in on his hitting to be more consistent at the plate.

He’s struggled throughout his career with throws on the run, and coming in on grounders hit toward him, so sharpening those aspects of his game will be prioritized after the season.

Free agency awaits Abrams after the 2028 season, and defensive improvement at a premium position could lead to a significant payday given his offensive talent. He has career-highs in bWAR (4.5), homers (29) and RBIs (92).

It’s in the best interest of Abrams and the Nationals for him to take a next step defensively. The organization has been transparent about fielding calls last offseason about possible trades for the two-time All-Star, and his value would be higher if he shows teams in September that he can maintain any defensive improvements.

“I’ll be able to impact the game defensively more over at short, so just being able to show [the front office] is big,” Abrams said.