Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams belted his second career grand slam in Wednesday's win over the Minnesota Twins
The Washington Nationals will look to pick up their first series win at home of the Blake Butera era with the rubber match set for Thursday afternoon, yet they are coming off maybe the most impressive win of the season, downing the Minnesota Twins after scoring 15 runs on four home runs, both season highs. And it came off the heels of a breakout performance from their star: CJ Abrams.
The star shortstop is coming off a three-hit performance, including his second career grand slam, with his five RBIs accounting for one third of the Nationals' runs. It marked an encouraging showing for Abrams, who entered the night just 3-for-16 in May with a .287 batting average yet a .911 OPS.
Now, Abrams owns three doubles, two home runs, 12 RBIs, four walks, two stolen bases and six runs scored over his last eight games while hitting .400. Entering Thursday, Abrams is tied for the lead in the National League with 33 RBIs this season while ranking top five in both OBP and OPS along with seventh in slugging. Abrams also ranks first in wRC+ and wOBA among NL shortstops.
Abrams opened the season as the first National to reach base in his first ten games of a regular season since Josh Bell did so back in 2022, doing so with a franchise-best 14 RBIs during that span. He followed it up by hitting .308 with eight home runs through April, following through on becoming a possible All Star selection.
Yet the big performance on Tuesday night fueled trade discussions once again with one outlet pointing to the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners as logical fits, months after the Nationals walked away from negotiations after the San Francisco Giants made a push in the offseason. Foster Griffin has also drawn buzz as a potential trade deadline target for teams after assembling arguably the most impressive starts among the international free agent signings. Still, for a new front office embracing the rebuilding that takes time to complete, whether the narrative should turn to extending the young star in hopes of giving the fanbase a piece to rally around long-term is as worthy of a discussion.
The Nationals will now look to parlay Abrams and the offense's success into Thursday when Jake Irvin takes the mound with first pitch set for 1:05 PM on MLB.TV. This marks the final meeting against the Twins this season with a chance for the Nationals to move to 18-20.