Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats shut out for 3rd straight game; CJ Abrams down in West Palm…

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ second loss to the Royals…

RIZZO ON ABRAMS/ABRAMS IN WPB:

If you were out there hoping GM and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo might shed some more light on what actually led to CJ Abrams’ surprising demotion to Triple-A (actually West Palm Beach, FL) during the Nationals’ stop in Chicago, IL, you are going to disappointed with his answers from Wednesday’s visit with Audacy’s The Sports Junkies.

While Rizzo addressed the tough decision on Abrams, he did not add much beyond what skipper Davey Martinez already said in the immediate aftermath of the news breaking this past weekend.

“He was optioned to Triple-A like a lot of players are,” Rizzo told The Junkies.

“It was not performance-based and we felt it was in the best interest of the player and the organization to do so.”

As Martinez stressed, the club seemingly wants to be clear it was not about his on-field performance but rather something (or things?) off-field which led to the decision, with a number of reports suggesting Abrams did stay out all night at a casino in the Windy City till 8:00 AM before a 1:00 PM game, but Rizzo did not address any reports.

“It’s an internal issue, that we’re gonna keep internal,” he explained. “It’s a family matter that we keep in the family. Suffice it to say, it’s not the end of the world for CJ, it’s not the end of the world for the Nationals. It’s something that happens over the course of time, especially with young players.

“And we love CJ, we care for CJ, we’re in constant communication with he and his agent. And we still have a great relationship and it’s something that we felt was needed for him and for the organization.”

The club is also in contact with the shortstop, who, as noted above, was actually headed to West Palm Beach rather than Rochester, with the Triple-A season over on Sunday and a few players sent to the team’s Spring Training facilities to stay sharp in case they were needed in the final few games of the Nationals’ season.

“We love CJ, we care for CJ, we’re in constant communication with he and his agent,” Rizzo said. “And we still have a great relationship and it’s something that we felt was needed for him and for the organization.”

What Rizzo would actually say about the decision, was that there is a standard they expect players to live up to and something with Abrams’ actions fell short.

“We have a standard here with the Nationals, we’ve had it for a lot of years and when players don’t reach those standards we have to do what’s in the best interest of the organization.

“But often, these things are done with the best interest of the player involved.

“And certainly, with this situation, the interest of CJ Abrams was first and foremost in our mind and we thought that it rose to not where we wanted to be with the Nats.”

“I always say, and it’s very Pollyanna-ish at times,” Rizzo added, “we really sincerely do care about the name on the front of the jersey more than the name on the back of the jersey and that’s a constant that we have here. It’s about teamwork and being a great teammate and that type of thing.

“And when players fail to reach those standards we have to do something to get them back into the mode of Nationals and teammate and big leagues, and we felt it was warranted in this case.”

On Wednesday, Abrams reported to West Palm Beach and went through his first workouts of the final week of the season.

“He worked out today, he did well, he participated with everybody there, they said he was actually very upbeat,” Martinez told reporters before the second of three with Kansas City.

“Went through some ground balls, some hitting in the cage. He did everything that he was asked to do, so that’s good, I’m glad that he did that and he had a really positive attitude.”

ALSO THIS:

NO OFFENSE, BUT:

For the 18th time this season, the 4th time in the last seven games, and 3rd straight game in a row, the Nationals were shut out, in a 3-0 loss to the Royals last night.

They’re now up to 31 innings without a run, and according to their manager, they are at this point pressing.

“I think they’re pressing, for sure,” Davey Martinez explained “We’ve just got to go out there relaxed tomorrow and just get a good pitch to hit. Once again, we put ourselves in bad situations, one, by taking early fastballs and then chasing. We got to be ready to hit early. We’re fouling a lot of balls off we should be hitting. We got to start putting those balls in play.”

Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images

It’s not lack of effort, or just a case a young team being tired at the end of a long season, though there’s probably some of that.

Martinez and Co. have been preaching the same message all along this season, do they need to try a new one?

“I could tell them to go ahead and try to hit home runs. Swing for the fences. That ain’t going to work right?” Martinez asked rhetorically. “Just the same thing, just get a good pitch to hit and really try to drive the ball. We talk a lot about just hey, go gap-to-gap, but what I’m seeing now is guys are really — we’re having some good swings, but we’re fouling balls off that we should be hitting, and that’s — when you do that, and then all of a sudden we’re hitting a lot with two strikes…”

The results aren’t there, but the club is still grinding away.

“Nobody’s given up here, I know that,” Martinez said. “It’s just — when you got guys on base and we’re not scoring runs, they’re just going up there and trying to be that guy, which is what happens, especially with young guys. They just got to go up there, relax, and like I said just try to hit the ball hard. You can’t guide it, so just go up there and put a good swing on it and try to hit the ball hard.”