The Washington Nationals may have traded away Juan Soto, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t ready to get the youth movement going.
One of the major returns in the deal with the San Diego Padres was top infield prospect C.J. Abrams, who made his MLB debut earlier this season.
After being swept by the Padres this past weekend in Soto’s return to Nationals Park, the Nats made a decision to promote Abrams to the big leagues.
Infielder Luis Garcia is headed to the injured list to make room for Abrams on the roster.
Jeff Passan of ESPN tweeted the news of Abrams’ promotion to the majors.
The Washington Nationals are calling up top prospect C.J. Abrams, one of the main returns in the Juan Soto trade, sources tell ESPN.
Abrams, a 21-year-old shortstop, debuted with the Padres earlier this year. Infielder Luis García is headed to the IL to make room on the roster.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 14, 2022
The Future Is Now
The youth movement is on in Washington.
They may be well out of contention, but now is the time for their young prospects to come up to the big leagues and make their first impressions on the team.
Abrams was one of the big pieces that went back to Washington in the Soto deal.
The Nationals have made it clear with this promotion that they are ready for the start the process of building the next great team in D.C.
Perhaps Abrams could give the Nationals a bit of a different look down the stretch.
No, the Nationals won’t miraculously find themselves back in contention, but with some top prospects ready to make their mark, this could be a team that could very well play spoiler on a few of their division rivals and ignite some hope for 2023.
The Nats find themselves in last place in the NL East division, 37.5 games behind the New York Mets, but with Abrams at the big-league level, they could look to play a little spoiler down the stretch.
