Rizzo talks about Abrams/WPB Abrams:
If you were hoping that GM and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo would shed a bit more light on what actually happened with C.J. Abrams’ surprising demotion to Triple-A,Actually, West Palm Beach, Florida.) during the Nationals game in Chicago, Illinois, you will be disappointed with his answer. Audacy’s Wednesday visit to The Sports Junkies.
Rizzo addressed the difficult decision regarding Abrams but didn’t offer much beyond what captain Davey Martinez already said shortly after the news broke last weekend.
“He got demoted to Triple-A like a lot of other guys.” Lizzo told Junkies..
“This is not performance-based and we felt it was in the best interest of the players and the organization to do so.”
As Martinez emphasized, the club wanted to be clear that the decision was due to something (or several things?) off the field and not on-field performance. Reports had said Abrams had been out until 8 a.m. at a Chicago casino before the 1 p.m. game, but Rizzo did not address any of the reports.
“It’s an internal matter and we’re going to keep it internal,” he explained. “It’s a family matter and we’re going to keep it internal. Let’s just say it’s not the end of the world for CJ and it’s not the end of the world for the Nationals. This is something that happens over time, especially with young players.”
“We love CJ and we care about CJ. We’re in constant contact with him and his agent. We still have a great relationship. It’s something we felt was necessary for him and the team.”
The team has also been in contact with the shortstop, who, as mentioned, is actually headed to West Palm Beach rather than Rochester. The Triple-A season ended on Sunday, and several players were sent to the team’s spring training facility to stay in shape in case they were needed for the Nationals’ final few games of the season.
“We love CJ and we care about CJ and we’re in constant contact with him and his agent,” Rizzo said. “We still have a great relationship, and that’s what we felt was necessary for him and the team.”
What Rizzo actually said about the decision was that he has standards he expects from his players and Abrams’ actions fell short of those standards.
“The Nationals have standards that they’ve held themselves to for many years, and when a player doesn’t measure up to those standards, we have to do what’s best for the organization.”
“However, more often than not, these things are done in the best interests of the players involved.
“And certainly in this situation, interest in C.J. Abrams was first and foremost in our minds, and we thought that it just wasn’t at the level we wanted for the Nationals.”
“I say it all the time, and I get really optimistic sometimes, but we really believe the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back. That’s always been what our team is about — teamwork, being great teammates, that kind of thing,” Rizzo added.
“When players don’t perform to those standards, we have to do something to get them back into Nationals, into teammate and into major league mode. We felt that was warranted in this case.”
Abrams reported to West Palm Beach on Wednesday for his first workout of the final week of the season.
“He practiced today, he did well, he was involved with everybody there, everybody said he was really positive,” Martinez told reporters ahead of the second of three games against Kansas City.
“He hit some ground balls, he got some hits in front of the basket. He did everything he was asked to do, which was good. I’m glad he did it and he had a really positive attitude.”
This includes:
No offense, but
The Nationals lost 3-0 to the Royals last night, marking their 18th shutout loss of the season, fourth in their last seven games and third consecutive shutout loss.
They have now gone 31 innings without conceding a run and the manager says they are putting the pressure on at this point.
“I think they’re definitely going to put pressure on us,” Davey Martinez explained. “We’ve got to relax and hit the ball well tomorrow. Again, we put ourselves in a bad situation by hitting the fastball early and then chasing it. We’ve got to be ready to hit it early. A lot of times we’re fouling off balls that we should be hitting. We’ve got to start hitting those balls.”
Photo: Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images
This isn’t for a lack of effort, or simply a case of a young team being tired at the end of a long season, although there was probably some of that.
Martinez and company have been preaching the same message all season, but should they try a new one?
“You can tell them to try to hit a home run, to swing for the fences, but that’s not going to work, is it?” Martinez asked rhetorically. “It’s the same thing. Just try to hit the ball well and hit the ball well. We always say just hit it from gap to gap, but what we’re seeing now is guys are taking really good swings, but they’re fouling the balls they should be hitting. And then all of a sudden you’re getting a lot of hits with two strikes…”
Despite the lack of results, the club is still working hard.
“Nobody’s giving up here, we know that,” Martinez said. “But if they have guys on base and they’re not scoring, they just step up and try to be that guy, especially the younger guys. They just step up, relax and like I said, just try to hit the ball hard. You can’t direct the ball, so you just step up, take a good swing and try to hit the ball hard.”
