Abrams reports early, ready to move past September demotion

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The face looks a little more weathered, the kind of thing that comes naturally with age. The body looks a little more bulked up, the product of an offseason spent adding 10 pounds of muscle. The smile, though, that hasn’t changed at all.

And CJ Abrams flashed that smile all morning as he walked through the Nationals’ clubhouse, chatting up teammates, coaches and reporters, then when he took the field for an informal workout. The 24-year-old shortstop was back in his element after a roller coaster of a 2024 season, determined to enjoy the 2025 campaign in every possible way.

“I’m back with the boys,” he said. “I get to play baseball with them, get better with them and just enjoy ourselves out here.”

Abrams reported to camp early, arriving Monday, more than a full week before position players are required to show up. He’s hardly the only one; more than a dozen position players are already here. But his arrival carries more significance than most.

The last time Abrams was in the Nationals’ major league clubhouse, he was informed by manager Davey Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo he was being optioned to the minors for the season’s final week after getting caught in the wee hours of the morning at a Chicago casino in advance of an afternoon game at Wrigley Field.

It was a stunning fall from grace for one of the team’s most important young cornerstones, an All-Star only 2 1/2 months prior now forced to spend the last week of September at a mostly empty spring training complex with a few other Triple-A players staying loose in case the team needed them.

“I just put it behind me,” Abrams said today in his first public appearance since the demotion. “Things happen, and you’ve got to move forward. I’m here now, and I'm excited to get going with the team.”

After his unexpected week in West Palm Beach last fall, Abrams returned home to Georgia, where he embarked on some serious soul-searching and decided how he was going to respond to the team’s disciplinary decision.

“It took some time,” he admitted. “I just went home, put the work in, and I got better.”

Abrams understood this represented a critical moment in his career, and his reaction could go in any of a number of directions. He chose to do what club officials insisted they believed he could do and turn this into a teaching moment that ultimately makes him a better major leaguer.

“I feel like that’s the case with anything; it’s the way you perceive things,” he said. “I’m gonna do the best I can to be the best I can, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Though there wasn’t much formal communication between Abrams and the team through the first portion of the offseason, there’s been plenty in the months since. Martinez had a long phone conversation with him in December. Hitting coach Darnell Coles traveled to Georgia to work with him one-on-one.

Though they’ll obviously be watching him closely, the Nats aren’t holding him to a standard any higher than anyone else. Provided he lives up to his part, his starting job is still his.

“CJ the person, he’s a great kid. He really is,” Martinez said. “He loves to be here. He loves his teammates. What he did in the past is the past. Moving forward, he wants to come out here and play baseball and be the best shortstop he could possibly be. So I’m excited for him. We know what he can do on the field. So we’re looking forward to keeping him healthy, and getting him out there and letting him play shortstop every day.”

On the field, Abrams had a wild 2024 season. Dominant at the plate in both April and June, he ended the first half with an .831 OPS, 21 doubles, six triples, 15 homers and 48 RBIs. Then he was mired in a slump through most of the second half, his OPS plummeting to .586, with only eight doubles, zero triples, five homers and 17 RBIs.

Consistency is Abrams’ No. 1 on-field objective this season.

“I started off pretty hot, kind of wearing off towards the end,” he said. “But I think this year, my body’s more in condition, and I’ll be able to take care of my body more.”

To that end, Abrams bulked up some this winter, specifically in his lower half. He was listed at 191 pounds last spring. He says he’s up to 200 pounds now.

“A lot of the weight is in my legs,” he said, “so I think I’m faster, bigger and stronger.”

Time will tell, of course. Abrams has reported to camp in good shape and in a good state of mind. It’s now up to him to maintain that over the next six weeks in Florida, then over the following six months in major league cities across North America.

He’s not preoccupied with all that right now, though. He’s too busy enjoying the start of a new year, one he hopes will put to rest what happened last year.

“Stay where your feet are, stay present,” he said. “We’re here now, and I’m ready to go.”