Nationals send All-Star CJ Abrams to the Minor League in surprise game

A little over two months ago, CJ Abrams played in the MLB All-Star Game.

Now he is moving to the minor leagues – but his performance had nothing to do with the decision.

The Nationals surprisingly benched their star shortstop about a week before the end of the regular season after Abrams spent the entire night in a Chicago-area casino and left just hours before the Nationals' game against the Cubs at 1 p.m. on Friday, according to ESPN.

“I just want it to be clear that it was not performance-related,” Washington manager Dave Martinez told reporters, according to Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. “It's an internal matter. I'm not going to get into specifics.”

Martinez added that Abrams – who went 0-for-3 in Friday's Nationals game while allowing strikeouts and walks – will report to the organization's facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, and will not play in the major leagues again this season.

Abrams has become a mainstay of the rebuilding Nationals in recent years, so his demotion is a bizarre development.

Abrams hit .246/.314/.433 with 20 home runs and 31 stolen bases for Washington this season, but struggled in the second half.

The 23-year-old has only a .203 batting average with five home runs and three stolen bases in 49 games since the All-Star break, despite being in top form over the past two weeks, hitting .324.

In the first half, Abrams had a batting average of .268 with 15 home runs.

Washington acquired Abrams, the sixth overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, as part of the huge package that sent Juan Soto to the Padres at the 2022 trade deadline.

Abrams established himself as the shortstop of the future in the nation's capital in 2023, hitting 18 home runs and stealing 47 bases while posting a .245/.300/.412 batting average in his first full major league season.