On Saturday, September 21st, Washington Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams was demoted to the Nationals Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings. He was sent down with only two games left in the AAA season, and nine games left in the major league season.
This demotion comes after a X/Twitter user claimed that Nationals all-star shortstop was in the loop at Bally’s Casino, a casino located in the Chicago area, until 8 am CST. That same day, the Nationals played the Chicago Cubs at 1:20 CST. In the game, Abrams hit first and went 0/3 with a strikeout and a walk. In his last 7 games, Abrams had been hitting with a whopping .417 batting average and near 1.200 OPS.
Speaking on the demotion, manager Davey Martinez remarked that the move to AAA for Abrams “wasn’t due to performance” and instead that it was due to “internal issues”. In light of this demotion, the Nationals will recall IF Trey Lipscomb from Rochester. This is the fifth time Lipscomb has been called up to the big league level, and he sports a slashline of .202/.271/.505 with 1 home run, 10 runs batted in, 16 walks, and 11 stolen bases.
Due to this demotion, Abrams will lose $36,000 USD in this year’s salary. Despite the official report saying that Abrams is going to Rochester, he will go to the Nationals Spring Training facility in Palm Beach, Florida to work out and he will standby in the bizarre case that he is needed back at the major league level.
The Nationals have two series left before their 2024 season ends; a three game set in Washington against the Kansas City Royals (82-74) and another three game series at home against the Philadelphia Phillies (92-64).
The Nationals were eliminated from playoff contention 12 days ago in a loss to the Miami Marlins.
