It was Mother’s Day, and the Washington Nationals had 5 2/3 innings to play for Saturday’s suspended fiasco plus their regularly scheduled Sunday game, and CJ Abrams knocked in all four runs finishing a triple shy of a cycle on this day. He took the team’s RBI lead and put himself on an 85 ribeye pace for the season. Not too shabby for a guy who was not known as a run producer.
Maybe it was Abrams’ mother, Ruth, as his extra incentive to shine on Mother’s Day. The Nats blew the save in the suspended game after Abrams got the team a 2-1 lead so in a 2-2 game in the 7th inning, he blasted a 411 foot home run to win the game 3-2.
In the second game of the day, Abrams connected off of Max Scherzer on what looked like a sure 2-run homer into the Nats’ bullpen but the ball seemingly got blown back and hit off ot the wall for an RBI double to take a 1-0 lead. Later in the game, the shortstop drove in his fourth run of the day on a single. He did his part — but his teammates couldn’t overcome an 8-run fifth inning pitching meltdown.
On this day, Abrams did more than expected from one player in a team game. The rest of his team didn’t do enough. That happens on rebuilding teams. The team the Nats faced has the highest payroll in baseball history. The Mets pay their shortstop, Francisco Lindor, $341 million over 10-years. In this 4-game series, Lindor will make more money than Abrams will get paid in the entire 2023 season.
Paying players the Braves’ way proactively while they’re young makes sure you don’t end up like the Mets, a team in second place with a bloated payroll, behind those first place Braves. Sure, there’s risk of overpaying players when you do what the Braves strategically do. But if you have a good eye for talent, you usually do well in the process. I say this because I made Abrams a priority early in the offseason for an extension. This isn’t hindisght thinking. It’s all in writing.
A happy Mother’s Day for sure for the Abrams’ family.
