Yeah, you read that title correctly. As of mid-April 2026, the best shortstop in Major League Baseball plays for the ballclub located in our nation’s capital. We might be in the infancy of the 2026 MLB season, and CJ Abrams (the Washington Nationals’ starting shortstop and the subject of this article) might only have played in 17 games and accumulated 72 plate appearances this season, but his performance has been outstanding to say the least.
A little backstory for those unfamiliar with Abrams’ career path: CJ Abrams was a first-round pick for the San Diego Padres in 2019 and quickly became one of the organization’s top-ranked prospects. He made his MLB debut in 2021 for the Padres; however, he only played 46 games for the team before being shipped off to Washington, D.C. alongside James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Luke Voit, and Jarlin Susana in exchange for Juan Soto.
Abrams’ rookie season in San Diego and DC was mediocre at best (75 OPS+ and 0.1 WAR in 90 games played), but the young shortstop progressed significantly in his following three seasons in the MLB. Abrams played 433 games between 2023 and 2025 and averaged 19 HRs, 36 SBs, a 105 OPS+, and a 3.4 WAR each season, and even earned himself an All-Star nod in 2024. While these numbers may not be extraordinary, they clearly indicate a trend of progression in overall production.
In 2026, the now 25-year-old shortstop has been arguably the best-performing infielder in all of Major League Baseball. Abrams’ impressive stats (.367/.458/.717, 6 HRs, 4 SBs, 231 OPS+, and 1.1 WAR) will likely lead to his second career all-star appearance.
Abrams is familiar with strong starts, as his 2024 All-Star season began similarly to this season. That year, Abrams was one of the best-performing shortstops in baseball through the first couple of months of the season, putting up an impressive stat line (.297/.377/.634, 7 HRs, 6 SBs) through his first 25 games played before regressing in the second half of the season and ending the season with a much more pedestrian stat line (.246/.314/.433, 20 HRs, 31 SBs).
The Nationals, currently 8-10 and 3rd in the NL East, do not have serious playoff hopes this season; however, if Cj Abrams continues this level of performance throughout the majority of the 2026 regular season, it would be a pleasant sight for Nationals fans who haven’t experienced any success since winning the World Series in 2019.
Thank you for reading! Make sure to stay tuned for more articles coming soon!
Making mention of this baller in my newsletter coming out soon. His performance is flying under the radar.