WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If there was any reason to debate who will hold the top spot in the Nationals’ batting order to begin the season, Davey Martinez put it to rest today with a fairly definitive revelation.
“CJ is going to lead off,” the eighth-year manager said. “The 3-4-5 will be kind of different. The 2-spot might be a little different at times. But we do know CJ’s going to lead off for us, and we’ll go with that for now.”
So there you have it: CJ Abrams will reclaim the leadoff spot he held for the majority of the 2024 season but did lose at one point when he was struggling at the plate.
The Nats have long believed in Abrams as their long-term answer at the top of the lineup. And over a 13-month stretch from July 2023 into August 2024, he held that job nearly every day, batting .252 with a .318 on-base percentage, .441 slugging percentage, 111 runs scored, 35 doubles, nine triples, 28 homers, 89 RBIs and 56 stolen bases.
But Abrams’ second half slump last summer prompted Martinez to move him out of the leadoff spot for a while, giving him a chance to clear his mind and hopefully get himself back on track. During that stretch – and during the final week of September after Abrams was demoted to the minors for disciplinary reasons – rookie Dylan Crews took over the No. 1 position in the order.
There was some thought the Nationals might give Crews (who often led off in college at LSU) another crack at it entering this season, but it appears Abrams will have to play his way out of the leadoff position before any changes are made.
“CJ’s done well up there,” Martinez said. “I want him to lead off.”
Abrams (who is expected to make his spring debut Sunday) is motivated to get off to a strong start and then sustain it for six months after his roller coaster 2024 season, believing work he did this winter will put him in a better position to do that.
“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.”
As for the rest of the Nationals lineup, Martinez didn’t make any other proclamations yet. He did say James Wood will bat somewhere in the top half (probably second or third), with Crews potentially up in the order as well (though not guaranteed right away).
“I’m going to dabble in different things this spring, see what transpires,” Martinez said. “But I think both of them, they got some unbelievable experience last year. James has played a little bit more. I still want James to hit fairly up in the order. We’ll see how Dylan does, but if everything goes well he’ll be another guy who at times will hit up in the order as well.”
The new first base/DH combo of Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell figures to fill out the top half of the lineup, with Luis García Jr., Paul DeJong (or José Tena, if he’s at third base), Keibert Ruiz and Jacob Young filling out the bottom half (not necessarily in that order).
As he’s often done over the years, Martinez stressed the importance of everyone in the lineup approaching each plate appearance based on the game situation at that particular time, not so much based on their actual place in the batting order.
“I’ve said before: After the first inning, you just become a hitter,” he said. “If we go 1-2-3 or 1-2-3-4, guess what? The fifth hitter becomes the leadoff hitter the next inning. I want them to start thinking that way, because they’re going to come up in different situations every time they hit. They’ll all have opportunities to lead off. They’ll all have opportunities to drive in runs.”