WASHINGTON -- Javier Sanoja’s ground ball bounced directly to shortstop, where Nasim Nuñez was positioned to quickly turn it to second base. CJ Abrams received the ball with his left foot planted on the bag and fired the throw to first baseman Andrés Chaparro for a 6-4-3 double play.
Two weeks after manager Blake Butera announced the plans to shift Abrams from shortstop to second base, the Nationals implemented the defensive change for the first time on Sunday afternoon in their 6-2 loss to the Marlins at Nationals Park.
“I thought he turned a nice double play and had a nice play on that soft liner to center field,” Butera said. “I thought he looked good.”
The Marlins did not hit a ground ball to second base the entire game. Abrams helped keep the Nats’ one-run advantage intact in the top of the sixth with an acrobatic play. He made a spectacular leaping catch running back into shallow center to nab an Esteury Ruiz looping liner to end the inning, though the Marlins' six-run ninth spoiled a chance to secure a series win, with Monday's finale on tap.
“It kind of knuckled a little bit,” Abrams said. “I thought I had a good read, and then it kind of moved behind me and I just jumped and got it.”
Abrams was told on Saturday that he would be starting at second the following afternoon. He has not played second base since 2022, his rookie season with the Padres, when he made 13 appearances (six starts) at the position. Abrams had held the starting shortstop role on the Nationals since he was acquired at the 2022 Trade Deadline, but felt comfortable returning to the other side of the middle infield.
“It was baseball,” Abrams said. “Go out there, play, try to get a win.”
At the time of the Nationals’ Aug. 14 announcement, Abrams had recorded a -13 run value, a league-low -17 Outs Above Average and a league-high 19 errors in 113 starts this season.
The Nats wanted Abrams to feel comfortable and prepared at second base before making the switch. Abrams, though, sprained his left ankle on an awkward slide grinding out a double on Aug. 19. He was out of the lineup the next four games, served as the designated hitter for the entire four-game Rockies series, returned to the field at shortstop on Friday, and DH’d again on Saturday.
“He was ready to play second base, basically, the day after he got hurt, but [he] wasn’t able to go and was out for an extended period of time,” Butera said. “So we wanted to get him back on his feet and at shortstop to make sure he felt good, and then we knew he was ready to go after that.”
The defensive switch brought Nuñez back to shortstop, the position he played the majority of his Minor League career. This season, he earned the starting second-base role in Spring Training. Nuñez, a Rule 5 Draft pick, hit an RBI double against his former organization in the fifth inning on Sunday.