Notes and quotes from the final road trip of the 2024 Nats’ season…
Davey Martinez stressed in discussing the decision to option CJ Abrams to the minors over the weekend, that it was not any sort of performance-related issue.
“It’s an internal issue. I’m not going to give specifics, or talk about specifics,” Martinez told reporters in Chicago. “Because I need to keep these guys and everything on the down-low.
“I got other guys out there that I want to support. I’m going to support CJ, he’s a big part of our Nats family and he will be. But at this point, for me, it was the right thing to do, so with that being said, I had conversations with CJ yesterday, we talked for a while, and … for right now it was the right thing to do. And that’s all I really wanted to say about it.”
Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
The conversation he had with Abrams in advance of the announcement was an emotional one according to the manager.
“We had our moments. We sat here and we wept together. But as I always say, it’s about taking care of the person first and not the player,” Martinez added. “And I’m going to do everything I can to help him. I love the kid. He’s a good kid. He’s going to be back.”
The club went out and beat the Cubs 5-1 in Wrigley on Saturday after the news on Abrams broke, behind a stellar start by teammate, friend, and fellow former San Diego Padres’ top prospect MacKenzie Gore, who came to the Nationals in the same Juan Soto (and Josh Bell) trade as Abrams in 2022.
Gore talked after the outing (in which he took a no-hit bid into the seventh) about his own reaction to the news on Abrams.
“CJ’s family,” the southpaw said, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“We’ve played together our whole big-league careers. It’s a tough situation for me. I’m always going to be (there) for CJ in this situation. It’s interesting. It was a tough day hearing that. You care about him, so it was tough. We’re close. He’s family. And you know, you lose your best player. It’s a tough day.”
Martinez said after the one win in seven games on the Nationals’ final road trip of 2024, he thought his club handled an emotional day well all things considered.
“I thought they did really well. They really did. We kept it together,” he said. “They went out there, and it all really started with MacKenzie. MacKenzie getting out to a good start, and pitching the way he did, and the guys were just very comfortable.”
He’s a centerpiece of a promising rebuild. He made a misstep. If it was the last straw, what were the other straws?
On CJ Abrams, the Nats’ need for veteran guidance, and an awkward offseason to come. https://t.co/2qWt7coPZy
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) September 23, 2024
CREWS CONTROL/CREWSIN/CLEANUPCREWS:
Rookie outfielder (2023 1st Round pick, No. 2 overall) Dylan Crews went through an 0 for 19 stretch this past week, but he snapped it with a single in his final plate appearance against the Cubs in the four-game series in Wrigley Field.
Crews finished the finale in Chicago with a .204/.262/.337 line, four doubles, three homers, eight walks, and 22 Ks in his first 25 games and 107 plate appearances in the majors.
“He’s really fighting through some things, and I’m proud of him,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters when asked about Crews’s rough stretch at the plate.
Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
“Because, hey, he’s going to give you everything he has, he is, and we just got to get him to slow down a little bit, stay behind the ball a little bit better — we talked to him a lot about just staying in the middle of the field. The base hit in the middle of the field was great. And really trying to stay focused on really staying through the ball as long as he possibly can. But he’ll get it.”
Crews, Martinez said, like a lot of the club’s young hitters, needs to stay in the zone, know what pitches he can do damage on, and not chase.
“He’s another guy that chases down in the zone. They throw him a lot of sliders. He’s got to understand with two strikes he’s got to see the ball up a little bit.”
As he said earlier in the series with the Cubbies, Martinez is confident Crews will figure out what pitchers are doing to him and make the necessary adjustments.
“I love the kid. The kid battles. He goes up there and works good at-bats. He’s going to be fine. It’s just a matter of making adjustments.”