Abrams takes hard, important lessons from loss to Mets

NEW YORK -- Four hours away from Nationals Park, CJ Abrams has gained valuable early-career experiences.

Citi Field, the Mets’ home ballpark in Queens, is where the 22-year-old Abrams has achieved standout moments, including his first career grand slam this past April. It is also where he has learned important late-game lessons, all in his second Major League season.

“Regardless of the team, I’m going to stick with my plan,” said Abrams about his success against the Mets.

In his first full season with the Nats, Abrams is batting .313 against the NL East opponent. Three of his 10 home runs this year also have come against the Mets. In Washington’s 2-1 loss to New York on Thursday night, he went 1-for-3 with one run, two walks, a stolen base and a key strikeout.

There were big and small lessons throughout.

Abrams bounced back from lining out to center in his first at-bat to get on base in three consecutive trips to the plate after that. He showed patience by drawing a walk in back-to-back at-bats and tying his career high for free passes.

“We’ve got to lay off the forkball with [Kodai] Senga and we’ve got to get the ball kind of up in the zone,” said manager Dave Martinez. “He did really well. He did really well with that.”

Abrams had drawn two walks in one game only twice before, most recently on April 8 in Colorado.

“I was seeing [the ball] well,” said Abrams. “I just wanted to get a pitch I could handle. I didn’t really get many of those today, and I just took my walks.”

The speedy Abrams continued to be dangerous on the basepaths, too. After his second walk, he nabbed second base in the sixth inning against Senga and Omar Narváez. It was his 18th consecutive successful stolen-base attempt and his 21st swiped bag of the season. Abrams has not been caught since May 3 against the Cubs.

“Being able to get on for the team and steal bases means more runs,” said Abrams, who added a single in the seventh. “So any time I can get on is big.”

But with the successes come the takeaways, too. Trailing by one run in the top of the ninth with a runner on first and two outs, Abrams faced lefty Brooks Raley as the Nats tried to rally after a one-hour, 37-minute rain delay. Abrams fouled off the first two pitches -- a cutter and a sweeper. He evened the count at 2-2 by taking a sweeper and a sinker for a ball. He fouled off a sweeper again on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, but he was caught looking on a sweeper down the middle to end the game.

“I kind of froze,” said Abrams. “I’m always looking fastball, but I don’t know, I kind of froze on that last one.”

Late-game situations similar to this are likely to arise throughout Abrams’ career. Looking ahead, he said he would recognize a breaking ball and swing.

“He fouled off some good pitches against a tough lefty who’s been really doing well against left-handed batters,” Martinez said. “I thought he had a good at-bat. The slider just got him there at the end.”

Thursday marked the first time Abrams led off against the Mets, a lineup change with which he has been thriving since July 7.

“I think he’s maturing,” said Martinez. “I think he’s getting a lot more confidence. But he’s been really good. What I love about him is that he’s learning to separate both, his offense from his defense. So now when he’s hitting, if he doesn’t get a hit, he doesn’t take it out on the field. He goes out there and understands he’s got to make the routine plays, and he’s been doing that.”