Dominic Smith and CJ Abrams reveal music obsessions, lifestyle faves

When Nationals infielders Dominic Smith and CJ Abrams came by the MLB studios recently, we knew we were in for a treat. These teammates and road trip travel partners aren't just key members of the Nationals ballclub, but they are each stylish, thoughtful and funny dudes.

Oh yeah, they're also extremely competitive with each other, as evidenced by how seriously they took a battle over pouring water into a cup:

We got a few minutes to chat with the duo about all the things they're doing and thinking about away from the field. The conversation is below:

MLB: What do you keep on your bedside table?

Dominic Smith: For sure my phone. I have some mouth tape over there too. And shoot, that's pretty much it. My phone and my mouth tape.

MLB: Oh, is that the stuff to keep you from mouth breathing all night?

Smith: I love it. Yeah, if I don't sleep with it, my girlfriend is definitely punching on me, telling me to stop snoring. It's something that helps me breathe through my nasal passage and helps me recover throughout the night. But it's kind of weird when people see me with mouth tape on.

MLB: CJ, what do you keep on your nightstand?

CJ Abrams: Have my phone, charger. Maybe some cash, and then my chain. And then probably a book. Right now it's "48 Laws of Power." It's just about ways to like communicate to people. Body language and stuff like that.

MLB: What song do you have on repeat right now? What can't you stop listening to?

Abrams: I'll go ... "Freestyle" -- Lil Baby.

Smith: I probably will go with something that CJ put me on to. It's a rapper named Big X Tha Plug. Low key anything new that he has I turn on. It's some good music right there.

MLB: When it's time to clean out the closet, what's going? What do you have way too many of?

Smith: I have too much of everything. I'm a hoarder, so I don't get rid of anything. I have stuff from my childhood still. I need to do some cleaning for sure.

Abrams: I'll say jackets.

MLB: You've got a long cross-country flight or you're stuck on the plane in a delay. What are you doing?

Smith: Sleeping. It kind of pisses [CJ] off because every flight, I hop on the plane [and] I just go right to sleep. I feel like the rest is important. You can't be 100% if you tired.

MLB: Do you bring the mouth tape out for the flight too?

Smith: I haven't yet. Next flight, I'll bring it. There will probably be some pictures swirling around after that.

MLB: CJ, what do you do on the plane?

Abrams: Playing cards.

MLB: Is it like poker or ...?

Abrams: You flip two cards and you bet if you flip another one, if it's gonna be in between. So it's basically In-Between.

MLB: Oh, that's cool.

Smith: It's not cool. When you lose the money, you lose it fast.

MLB: You're having dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are you inviting?

Smith: I'm probably going to bring Jackie Robinson, for sure. Martin Luther King, for sure. And then the last one had to be -- I want it to be an artist. So I will have to say like, just Jay-Z just because of his knowledge and how smart he is, how he came from nothing and built a whole empire. I mean, those guys are very influential in my life. Like without Jackie, I wouldn't even have played in the big leagues. And then Martin Luther King, what he stood for. So I think that'd be a great dinner sitting there.

Abrams: I have two of the same: Jackie Robinson and Jay-Z. And my third would be Muhammad Ali.

MLB: What's your favorite city to play in as a visitor?

Abrams: Probably go San Diego because of the weather.

Smith: I'll go Chicago. I love Chicago; it's a great city. Great ballpark, fans come out, they get rowdy. And then just the history that whole stadium has. It's just a great place to play. And then, like I said, the city is fun. It's got great restaurants, great shopping. Everything you want to do.

MLB: What's your favorite place to go to where you grew up? Like, where are you taking friends when they're in town to visit?

Smith: I like Mexican food. I'm from Cali, so Mexico is right there. It's this place called Veracruz. They have the best fajitas that you'll ever have. I'm telling you: Shrimp, steak fajitas and just overall their Mexican food is gonna be some of the best, authentic. It's legit.

Abrams: Yeah, in Atlanta? I like wings. I know American Deli is probably everywhere, but that's my favorite spot for sure.

MLB: Between the two of you, who has more style?

Smith: CJ. He's gonna run off with the style for sure. So, I'm gonna teach him a couple of things, but he'll be alright.

Abrams: I learned from the big boy.

MLB: Most likely to get in trouble with the manager?

Smith: It probably will be me, only because I'm just always doing something crazy. But you know, we try to stay out of his office.

MLB: All right, last one: Who's got more pop between the two of you?

Abrams: I've got more juice, bro.

Smith: Yeah, he's got more homers than me now, so I'll give it to him. But we'll see at the end of the year.