Abrams sits with sore shoulder, Nuñez gets another chance to play

CJ Abrams won’t get a chance tonight to see if he can continue his recent power surge at the plate.

The Nationals shortstop was scratched from the lineup after reporting a sore left shoulder, the result of a diving play during Thursday night’s 6-3 loss to the Marlins.

Abrams made a nice play diving to his left to snag Connor Norby’s sharp grounder up the middle in the top of the third, hopping to his feet and firing to first base in time for the out. He played the rest of the game but woke up this morning with shoulder stiffness. And when the condition didn’t improve by mid-afternoon, the Nats decided to scratch him from the lineup.

“He’s getting worked on right now,” manager Davey Martinez said around 4 p.m. “But I don’t want to take a chance.”

Martinez said Abrams isn’t scheduled for an MRI yet, but if he’s still dealing with the issue Saturday that could change.

It’s not the first time Abrams has had to miss a game due to a shoulder issue this season, but it doesn’t appear any of those ailments have been connected.

“No, they’re just individual plays,” Martinez said. “The last time he dove yesterday, he said he felt it, but it wasn’t that bad. He woke up today and it was sore. So he worked out, got some treatment. We’ll see how he gets through today, and then we’ll see where he’s at.”

Abrams has played in 134 of the Nationals’ 146 games to date, twice missing three in a row due to a minor ailment but never more than that.

“He’s had a couple little instances where he’s needed some days,” Martinez said. “The diving, that gets him with the shoulder. But he’s handled himself pretty good. Some days I just give him off, to get him off his feet. But he’s done well.”

After his All-Star first half of the season, Abrams has been mired in a prolonged slump since. He’s batting just .169 and slugging just .299 in 52 games since July 8. But he has shown signs of breaking out in recent days, homering in two of his last four games and adding a double Thursday night as well, officially becoming the fifth player in club history to join the 20/20 Club.

With Abrams sidelined tonight, Nasim Nuñez will get the start at shortstop, batting ninth. The Rule 5 Draft pick is in the lineup for only the 10th time overall, but it’s his sixth start since Aug. 9, a stretch during which he has batted .500 (7-for-14) with four walks and four sacrifice bunts.

“He’s always ready,” Martinez said. “Look, the kid worked his butt off every day. He works on all of his game. He really made the conscious effort to get better with his swing, be more consistent, understand how to play the game. And you can see when he’s out there playing, he’s done really well. But it was the work ethic he had all year long that enabled him to do what he’s doing. He doesn’t play that much, but he keeps himself ready every single day, which is awesome.”