Throughout this offseason, we will be grading players’ performances this season. It is a good way to recap their seasons and take a look at what comes next. The first player we will profile in this series is CJ Abrams. The Nats shortstop had a monster year on the offensive side of the ball, but his defensive home is now uncertain.
While it was not perfect, CJ Abrams had a fantastic season in 2026. He filled up the back of his baseball card this year. Abrams hit .261 with 33 homers, 106 RBI, 34 stolen bases and posted an .833 OPS. The Nationals cleanup hitter was one of the game’s premier run producers, finishing tied for 5th in RBI’s.
We have had high expectations for Abrams, but he has developed into a much bigger run producer than anybody could have expected. I actually wrote about this last week. As a prospect and early in his career, Abrams was a speedy table-setter with sneaky power. Now that power is not very sneaky.
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In the beginning of the season, it was strange to see James Wood leading off and CJ Abrams in the cleanup spot. However, that proved to be a great move. Wood was consistently on base and Abrams was driving him in.
A big storyline surrounding Abrams the last couple seasons were his second half fall-offs. When Abrams hit .275 with an .862 OPS and started at shortstop in the All-Star Game, all eyes were on how he would do in the second half. The results were mixed in the end.
Abrams came out like a house on fire after the break. In the 14 July games after the All-Star break, Abrams hit 8 home runs. That helped him win NL Player of the Month in July. However, August was a different story.
As the team collapsed around him, Abrams struggled badly. He hit just .173 with a .519 OPS in August. The team also announced that they were moving Abrams off of shortstop in the middle of the month. That was news that Abrams was not happy about. The position change turned into a bit of a distraction for Abrams and the team.
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Those August struggles continued in the beginning of September. However, to Abrams’ credit, he did finish the season strong. In his last 15 games, Abrams hit .246 with an .815 OPS. Abrams also hit 3 homers, drove in 11 runs and stole 6 bases in that time. Seeing Abrams right the ship after collapsing for 6 weeks was very important to see and will help his overall grade. In the second half as a whole, Abrams hit .239 with 13 homers and a .792 OPS.
Even with that 6 week slump, there is not much you can complain about with Abrams offensively. He was one of the best hitting shortstops in all of baseball. Abrams also provided his typical value on the basepaths. He stole 34 bases while only being caught 6 times. According to Statcast, Abrams added 4 runs on the basepaths, which is very strong.
It was a different story on the defensive side of the ball though. On the season, Abrams committed 20 errors and posted -17 outs above average. Entering the season, Blake Butera sounded optimistic about Abrams’ defense, but that faded as the year went along. Eventually, he was moved to second base.
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For the last 6 weeks of the season, Abrams split time at shortstop and second base. He played a quality second base and honestly looked better at shortstop as well. The position change was a bit of a wakeup call for Abrams.
When the media talked to Blake Butera before the last game, he seemed undecided on Abrams’ defensive future. He said that Abrams wants to get better at shortstop and they will see what he looks like next spring. If Abrams is still on the team, I get the feeling he will be splitting time at second and short.
Even with the poor defense, Abrams was a very valuable player. He posted 3.7 fWAR and 5.1 bWAR on the season. That is a star player and those numbers could get even better if he is able to play a solid second base.
There is inevitably going to be a lot of talk about Abrams’ future with the Nats this offseason. He has been in trade rumors even since Paul Toboni took over, and that is not going to stop now. Abrams has two more years of team control before he reaches free agency.
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Toboni has a big choice to make this offseason. Will he cash in on Abrams and trade him after a career year or will he keep him around and commit to going all in for 2027 and 2028. With Abrams not being a Boras client, there should also be extension discussions taking place.
I know my preferred outcome would be an extension, but we will see if that is feasible. After a career year and free agency getting closer, Abrams does not have much incentive to extend. The Nats will really have to pay up if they want to extend him. While I would love to keep Abrams around, there are some reasons to be uncomfortable giving him a monster contract. You would certainly be buying high after this season.
Overall, Abrams had a fantastic season. As we know, Abrams is not a perfect player and has his flaws. However, he is an electrifying talent who can carry the offense for stretches. He did not fully answer the second half questions, but he took a step in the right direction. I am excited to see what is next for Abrams and hopefully it will be in a Nationals uniform.
Abrams’ defensive woes and 6 week swoon keep him from an A+ grade. However, he still had a monster year. Players who go 30/30 while driving in 100 runs do not exactly grow on trees.
Season Grade: A
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