Abrams racks up four hits, four RBIs

June 19th, 2021

When a player puts all five of his tools together to take over a game, it is a beautiful sight to see. That is exactly what CJ Abrams did on Friday night, flashing all his tools during a dominant performance in San Antonio’s 14-6 win over Northwest Arkansas.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 overall prospect tallied four hits for the second time in his professional career and the first time this season. Abrams, hitting out of the two-hole for the Missions, knocked two doubles and two singles, drove in four runs, scored twice and swiped his 10th bag of the year in a six total-base, 4-for-5 effort.

San Diego’s No. 2 prospect started his day off with a broken bat single to shallow center field that was almost tracked down on a diving attempt by Northwest Arkansas’ Dairon Blanco. Abrams was driven in by Allen Cordoba on a two-out single to give San Antonio a 2-0 lead.

Abrams laced the first of his two doubles to the right-center gap, driving in two runs to put San Antonio up 7-1 in the fourth. With two outs in the fifth inning, the speedy shortstop added his third hit of the day on a botched infield popup that fell between Royals top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. and Dennicher Carrasco, scoring a run for San Antonio.

The 20-year-old had an eventful sixth inning on the defensive side of the diamond. In the top half, Abrams ranged into short left field to make a smooth snag for the first out and started a 6-4-3 double play to retire the side. In the seventh, Abrams smacked a ball to the warning track that hopped over the wall for an RBI ground-rule double. On the second pitch of the following at bat, he swiped third base with ease, and used his wheels to score on a groundout to third base two pitches later.

Abrams has shown elite contact skills all season, recording a hit in 22 of his 33 games and multiple hits in 11 contests. The 2019 sixth-overall pick is slashing .307/.375/.425 for an .800 OPS over 145 plate appearances this season. He has flashed a knack for driving the ball into the gap, with nine doubles and two homers this year and 35 career extra-base hits over 67 Minor League games. Abrams’ 80-grade speed is his standout tool, and he has used it to swipe 10 bases while being caught once in 2021.

Despite San Diego having the face of their franchise manning shortstop at Petco Park, Abrams has mainly worked at his primary position in his career, playing 55 of his 67 game there. He has seen some action at second base as well, in what could be a glimpse into the future of a very exciting double play combination for years to come in southern California.