WASHINGTON – CJ Abrams has a way of welcoming pitchers to the big leagues.
Over his five-year career, Abrams has faced 10 starting pitchers making their Major League debut. Unfortunately for those opposing arms, Abrams has homered off of four of them.
In the first inning of the Nationals’ 8-4 win over the Mets on Wednesday night, Abrams crushed a three-run home run off lefty Zach Thornton.
He has done the same to the Braves’ JR Ritchie (April 23), the Dodgers’ Landon Knack (April 17, 2024) and the Reds’ Lyon Richardson (Aug. 6, 2023).
“It’s cool,” said Abrams. “The plan stays the same. And I guess four of them got to work.”
With four such home runs since the start of the 2022 season, Abrams is tied for the most in baseball with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández and the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, per Elias Sports Bureau.
Against debuting starting pitchers, Abrams is 6-for-23 (.261) with four home runs, seven RBIs and two walks.
Abrams went 2-for-4 on the night with two runs scored. He is tied for the league lead with 42 RBIs through 49 games; has never driven in more than 65 in a season.
The Nationals are seeing the results of plate adjustments that Abrams has embraced. Manager Blake Butera noted Abrams’ approach is now “pretty short, compact and direct to the ball.”
“He just looks extremely simple and calm in the box,” said Butera. “Everything seems free and easy for him right now. It doesn’t look like he’s trying to do too much.”
Abrams ranks first among NL shortstops in OPS (.928), on-base percentage (.389) and slugging percentage (.539), and he's second in home runs (10) and extra-base hits (22).
“I am trying to get my foot down earlier, [have] less movement, less head movement, be able to see the pitches better,” Abrams said. “[It helps] being able to swing at better pitches, being able to shrink the zone more and just see the ball better, for sure.”
On a Nationals team that has scored the most runs in baseball (279), Abrams leads the club in hits (54), batting average (.300), slugging percentage and OPS.
“The whole year, he's been our steady guy,” said Jacob Young, whose sixth home run of 2026 surpassed his previous career total. “He hasn't really gotten too low at any point. He's just continued to hit the ball hard. He just looks really free this year. He's pulling the ball really well in the air, which is definitely helping a lot of the power numbers. … [He’s] swinging a lot better pitches, he's a lot more patient, I think, which is leading to a lot of these good results.”
The production at the plate is made possible by the efforts off the field. Butera lauded Abrams’ pre- and postgame work ethic. Abrams’ focus this season has included getting in the gym two or three times a series, staying hydrated and “eat[ing] a lot” to keep weight on.
“To be one of the best players in baseball, which I think CJ has the potential to do – and he’s shown it offensively this year with the names that he's right up there with in terms of offensive success this year – it takes a concerted effort daily to be the best version of yourself,” Butera said.
“When you look in the clubhouse at the end of the game, CJ is one of the last people to leave. Today, when I was here, he was one of the first people to the field. He's taking care of his body; he's doing the right things; he's put himself in a position to not only play every day, but feel good every day and set himself up to have success every day.”