Earlier this season, Luis García Jr. looked across the clubhouse at CJ Abrams and paused.
Read more Dining on ‘cheese and grease,’ World Cup visitors cut costs the American way
Abrams and García are 25 and 26 years old — separated by less than five months. Yet García has seen Abrams as a “little kid” since he was traded to the Washington Nationals in 2022.
Abrams wasn’t necessarily undisciplined, although there were a few notable moments, including a late-season option in 2024 over an “internal issue.” But Abrams wasn’t exactly the last one to leave the clubhouse every night.
That’s all changed this year, García said.
“Now, he’s grown up,” García said.
It’s not just García who’s noticed. Abrams is showing a level of maturity that his teammates, coaches and family haven’t seen before. He’s eating better, training harder and leading a young team that’s exceeding every expectation set for them.
It’s impacting his performance. The shortstop hitting .283 with an .886 OPS and 56 RBI, already nearing the season high of 65 he set in 2024. He’s in position to make his second National League all-star team next month, potentially even as a starter. He was leading the fan vote in the first update that was released Monday.
“I’ve been super impressed with who he is, the person he is as a player, a teammate, a leader,” Manager Blake Butera said. “The way he goes about his business. The way he’s taking care of his body.”
This change didn’t happen overnight, but it did start with a shift early in the offseason. Instead of taking October off, as he typically would do, Abrams reported to Maven Baseball Lab in Atlanta right after last season. It was so early that Abrams’s winter training partners, who include Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Cedric Mullins and Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson, hadn’t reported yet.
“They were surprised. It was like, ‘Shoot, you’re the only one down here,’” Chris Abrams, CJ’s father, recalls the Maven staff saying. “He was like, ‘It’s time for me to take the next step.’”
It was a conclusion, Chris said, that CJ came to on his own. Abrams, a first-round pick by the Padres in 2019, had put together a solid résumé in his first four major league seasons, including an all-star selection in 2024. But he knew that he had more in him — and that it would take a more disciplined approach to get there.
So in addition to beginning his offseason progression earlier, Abrams started taking his diet more seriously. He’s always been small and able to eat whatever he wanted, but to maintain his desired weight in-season, he knew he needed to start eating more. He still eats his hamburgers but adds a side of broccoli now. Abrams has protein shakes before and after games and forces himself to snack when he’s not hungry. Garden Salsa Sun Chips are his go-to.
Read more New Zealand crush England by 253 runs in 2nd test at The Oval as Henry rips through the tail
“I don’t really structure it,” he said. “When I’m hungry, I eat a lot. When I’m not, try to snack as much as I can.”
He doesn’t cook, and keeping groceries in season isn’t viable with the travel anyway, so he orders his postgame meal on DoorDash — pasta, usually, but if he can find a steak, he’ll snag that. The team has a meal ready for players after the game, but because Abrams now spends so much time in the weight room and with the training staff taking care of his body, he usually misses it.
The routine takes so long, he now is one of the last to leave the clubhouse every night, with only James Wood or Curtis Mead occasionally staying later.
But that’s also shifted. Abrams, who is one of the more experienced position players, has a trail of players who are starting to replicate his routine. It’s something Butera noticed earlier this season, so much so that he pulled Abrams aside to tell him.
Whether he liked it or not, Butera told Abrams, his teammates were following his lead. What he did with that information, Butera said he told Abrams, was his decision.
“If he wants to be a leader, that’s up to him,” Butera said. “We can’t force him to do that, but he’s taken some of those steps on his own to start leading.”
Being seen as a leader is “big,” Abrams said. He’s on the quieter side, so for him, that looks different than someone who’s comfortable standing up in the middle of the clubhouse giving a passionate speech. He prefers to take players aside, sharing tips about his approach or how a pitcher might attack them.
“Learning from a guy who’s so young like that and has the confidence he has — I mean, it’s pretty cool,” outfielder Daylen Lile said.
Read more Argentina may have America to thank for Lionel Messi’s latest World Cup heroics
