The Washington Nationals announced that All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams will be changing positions. Nationals manager Blake Butera told The Athletic‘s Spencer Nusbaum that Abrams will start transitioning to second base.
Abrams is expected to start playing second in a few days. He’ll still get one game a week at shortstop for the time being.
The move may also be tied to Abrams’ poor defense at shortstop. In 5297 innings, he’s graded out to -11 Defensive Runs Saved and -63 Outs Above Average. It hasn’t gotten better of late, as he’s been -11 OAA or worse in each of the past three seasons.
The Nationals are motivated to find a spot for Abrams to stick defensively. His bat is simply too good to take out of the lineup. On the season, he’s slashing .284/.357/.541 with 29 home runs and an MLB-leading 91 RBI. His offense is estimated to be 43% better than what the league average would provide, with a 143 wRC+.
As the Nationals begin transitioning the All-Star infielder to second, they’ll play Nasim Nunez at short. But the other subplot to this move is the looming debut of top prospect Seaver King.
CJ Abrams Position Change Opens Path for Top Infield Prospect
GettyNationals infield prospect Seaver King nears his MLB debut. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
King was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest. He’s currently playing for the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Rochester. He’s currently holding a .291/.365/.469 slash with seven home runs and a 117 wRC+ in 44 games with Rochester.
At this point in the season, the Nationals can call up King without exhausting his rookie eligibility for 2027. There are only 44 days left in the 2026 MLB season. As long as he doesn’t accumulate 130 at-bats, he’ll still remain eligible for prospect status in 2027.
The underlying move behind waiting until this late in the seaosn is that the Nationals could still benefit from the Prospect Promotion Incentive. King should be a consensus Top 100 prospect, which would make him eligible.
Washington gains a pick after the first round should he either win the 2027 National League Rookie of the Year Award or finish in the Top 3 of the MVP voting in 2027-2029.
The two trades the Nationals made at the deadline free up space for younger players to make their mark. Abimelec Ortiz, a player they got for MacKenzie Gore, has taken over Luis Garcia Jr.’s role as the strong-side platoon option at first base. They’re also figuring out if Brady House is still their guy at third base.
Next season, the Nationals could have a starting infield of House, King, Abrams, and Ortiz. Jorbit Vivas and Andres Chaparro would be key bats off the bench.
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