The First Round Number

The Living Room

Chris Abrams made sock tosses, bean bags thrown to mimic breaking pitches, Nerf gun foam balls, and a memory-foam reaction pad designed to overload his son's skills so games felt easier. CJ was swinging a bat at 18 months old, breaking lamps and picture frames that his parents, Chris and Ruth, glued back together and kept.

The boy was Paul Christopher Abrams Jr. — CJ for Chris Junior — born in Alpharetta, Georgia. By 2019, at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Georgia, he was the Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year, batting .431 with three home runs and 27 RBIs. The Padres selected him sixth overall in the 2019 draft and signed him for $5.2 million.

Shortstop

Abrams debuted in San Diego on April 8, 2022. That August the Padres sent him to Washington in the Juan Soto deal.

The first All-Star selection came in 2024. That season, the Nationals optioned Abrams to the minors after he stayed out all night at a casino before a day game. Manager Davey Martinez held a meeting where both men wept. Martinez called him a good kid who would return stronger and stressed supporting the person first. Teammate MacKenzie Gore described Abrams as family and said it was tough losing their best player.

On May 8 of this year, his fifth major-league season, Abrams collected his 500th career hit. He has been named an All-Star twice — 2024 and 2026 — both times while primarily playing shortstop for the Nationals. He bats left, throws right, stands six feet and 191 pounds.

Abrams turned 25 last October. Through 99 games this season he has 24 home runs and 106 hits.

Reporting: The Athletic, ESPN, MLB.com. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.