Can CJ Abrams Rewrite His Second-Half Narrative?

The date is August 2, 2022: the MLB trade deadline. The Washington Nationals have just made a franchise-altering blockbuster, moving Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres for a slew of highly touted prospects and young pieces, including shortstop CJ Abrams. 

Abrams’ arrival in Washington signified a changing of the guard. Just three years removed from their first World Series championship, the Nationals had watched the foundation of that team slowly crumble. Injuries had derailed stars like Stephen Strasburg, while players such as Patrick Corbin had regressed from key contributors into major question marks.

Meanwhile, fans watched as cornerstone pieces of the championship team either left in free agency or were traded away — Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner and, finally, Soto.

As painful and depressing as the Soto trade was for Nationals fans and the organization, it also represented an opportunity. Washington was no longer in pursuit of the foolhardy attempt to preserve the remnants of a championship roster that had passed.

Instead, it was a chance to revitalize the foundation of the organization with something new, this time around a group of young players with the potential to become the next generation of Nationals stars.

At the center of that new foundation was Abrams.

At only 21 years old at the time of the trade, the young shortstop was still incredibly raw as a professional baseball player. Throughout a limited amount of time with San Diego’s big league club and only a few short years in the minor leagues, Abrams had flashed high-level athleticism and speed while also having the frame and contact abilities to grow into being an elite threat at the plate. 

His potential was obvious and easy for Nats fans to see, and the only question truly was how he would be able to translate his tools into production at the big league level over a 162-game season. 

CJ Abrams: A Tale of Two Halves

Throughout the next couple of years, Abrams’ production would improve steadily as he began to validate the Nationals’ belief that he could become a key part of the foundation in this rebuild and a major building block to future Nats contention. 

His impact on the bases was immediate and substantial. Abrams swiped 47 bags in 2023 before stealing 31 in each of the following two seasons, making him the sixth-most prolific base stealer in baseball throughout that time.

His offensive production also took major strides in his first full three seasons, developing into not only a contact bat but also providing some slugging as well in the middle of Washington’s order. From 2023 through 2025, his OPS consistently hovered between .710 and .750 while he averaged roughly 19 home runs per season.

Despite this increase in production, it was a true testament to Abrams’ potential that he still left something to be desired. The overall season statistics were solid. He had become a centerpiece for the Nationals lineup and even captured an All-Star appearance in 2024. Yet there remained a sense that Abrams had not yet reached the upper echelon of major league shortstops, and there was simply still something missing from his game. 

That “something missing” came in the form of Abrams’ second-half performances in 2024 and 2025. 

By the All-Star break of 2024, CJ Abrams was having a breakout campaign and putting the league on notice with an .831 OPS and both 15 homers and stolen bases. He seemed to officially elevate himself from a young player with talent to a franchise cornerstone. The breakout seemingly cemented him as a threat on the bases and in the box for a Washington team that desperately needed some positivity considering they had not reached .500 since 2019.

As the All-Star break came to a conclusion, Nats fans hoped for more of the same from their left-handed hitting shortstop. Instead, however, he went into one of the worst stretches of his professional career. He proceeded to OPS a measly .586 and underwhelmed in the power department as well, only hitting five homers after the break.

The second-half collapse ultimately culminated in a shocking September demotion to the minor leagues after Abrams violated the team’s curfew while at a casino on a road trip.

The second half of 2024 served as a harsh reminder for the franchise and its fans that Abrams’ development was far from complete. Just months after seemingly entering the rarified air of elite shortstops, his production, consistency and maturity all came into question. 

Abrams entered the 2025 season looking to provide answers to these aforementioned questions. He quickly addressed the curfew incident in spring training, treating the event as a learning experience that he would grow from, which seemingly put the conversation surrounding it to bed as the Nationals stood by him throughout the ordeal.

Now, all that was left to answer for was how he would rebound from his second-half struggles at the plate. And he wasted no time doing so. 

Abrams opened the 2025 season on a tear, posting a .865 OPS across March and April and looking like the same dynamic hitter who had taken the league by storm during the first half of 2024.

By the All-Star break, he was approaching a .300 batting average, had swiped 20 bases and launched 12 home runs. His first half was so impressive he became one of the biggest snubs from the Midsummer Classic in July, despite being a member of one of the most talented position groups in the National League. 

He entered the second half of the 2025 season in a very similar manner to the 2024 season, as he seemed to be on the fast track to finish high in the rankings of many offensive categories throughout baseball. 

Unfortunately for Abrams, however, his second-half woes would rear their ugly head again in 2025. The regression for him was massive, as he put together a below-average .633 OPS after the break, dropping nearly .200 from his first-half self. The decline was particularly pronounced in September, when he slashed just .204/.235/.344 to close out the season.

Despite once looking like a budding superstar at shortstop, the 25-year-old had now struggled to sustain his production over a full season for the second consecutive year.

After answering several of the questions that surrounded him entering the 2025 season, Abrams once again found himself at a crossroads. The talent was undeniable, the flashes of stardom were still there, and he had at least reached the floor of being an above-average big leaguer.

But as the season came to a close, Nationals fans were left wondering whether Abrams would finally realize that potential, or become another name on the long list of promising talents who never quite reached the ceiling they were once dreamt to have had.

2026: Realizing His Potential

In the offseason leading up to the 2026 season, Washington made a change in its front office that would go on to send ripple effects throughout the organization and Major League Baseball as a whole.

The Nats hired Red Sox assistant general manager and senior vice president Paul Toboni to be their new president of baseball operations. The hire came with an unspoken directive of making wholesale change from the previous regime of Nationals baseball in hopes that Toboni and the new front office could catapult the club back into contention. 

Toboni wasted no time making his mark on the organization as he made four massive player trades shortly after his hiring, including dealing MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers for a haul of some of their best prospects. 

The Gore trade in particular raised the eyebrows of insiders and fans alike who wondered about the future of CJ Abrams due to the fact that Gore and Abrams had spent essentially their entire professional careers together.

Both Gore and Abrams were first-round picks of the Padres in late 2010s drafts; Gore was taken in 2017 and Abrams in 2019. Both developed throughout San Diego’s minor league system, spending time together atop the list of San Diego’s top prospects for the next several years.

Eventually, both were shipped to Washington together as two of the headliners in the Juan Soto trade of 2022. It felt for many that if Gore was being dealt away, then Abrams would not be too far behind. 

Despite all of the speculative rumors and anticipation of a move for the shortstop, when the dust settled for spring training, Abrams was still in the nation’s capital.

For the first time in his Nationals career, he entered a season with a new front office, a new coaching staff, and a new opportunity to prove that not trading him away in the offseason was the correct move for the franchise. 

Abrams got off to a very unsurprising start in the first half of the season as he excelled under new manager Drew Butera and ripped through big league pitching. He accumulated 15 stolen bases, 20 home runs, and a .862 OPS in the first half while also leading the Nationals to their best half of baseball since 2019 as they held a 48-49 record.

Abrams’ first half was so excellent that he earned All-Star starting honors at shortstop, batting fourth for the home team.

Across baseball, Abrams was receiving praise for his breakout first half, while the Nationals’ front office was receiving its own recognition for resisting the temptation to trade away the young shortstop during the offseason. After years of speculation about whether Abrams would ever reach his full potential, Washington appeared to have made the right decision by keeping him.

But there was still one looming problem: The second half was right around the corner.

Rather than expectations that the good times would continue to roll for Abrams in August and September, it was reasonable to suggest expectations of regression for the shortstop, as he created a trend in the previous two seasons.

Abrams, however, to the joy of Nationals fans and the organization, has seen his production veer in the complete opposite direction of years past. He has elevated his game this season with a dominant second half to this point.

As of Sunday, August 16, he is slashing .295/.373/.607 in the second half, which marks a .118 improvement over his already stellar first-half numbers. This level of production completely contradicts the narrative of second-half decline that Abrams has held throughout his short career.

Abrams’ superstar-level 2026 can likely be attributed to a variety of different factors surrounding his game. His launch angle, hard-hit rate, and barrel percentage have all seen notable improvements and have led to a surge in power for him.

Additionally, the influx of a new coaching staff with new ideas could most certainly be helping propel him to success late in the season. Or, perhaps, Abrams’ success can be credited to the age-old natural progression that comes with a player getting more reps and becoming more and more mature and comfortable at the big league level.

Regardless of what has fueled Abrams’ surge, his performance in the second half has the potential to be monumental for both his career and the organization. If he can maintain this level of production, Abrams will have a legitimate case to establish himself among the next class of elite shortstops in baseball alongside players like Bobby Witt Jr. and Elly De La Cruz.

For the Nationals, however, Abrams’ development represents something even bigger. His emergence as a legitimate star would signal another important step in the organization’s rebuild, as more of Washington’s young talent begins to realize its potential and the franchise moves closer to turning the corner and returning to perennial contention in the National League East.