Who Will Play Shortstop on Opening Day 2027 for the Nats?

The Washington Nationals depth chart for shortstop is in flux right now. Manager Blake Butera was asked who his shortstop was going to be for the 2027 season, and he gave a fair answer without a firm commitment.

“We’re going to see what [CJ Abrams] looks like in Spring Training. I think what he’s shown us at second base, he’s been unbelievable over there. But he’s also been unbelievable at shortstop since we had that conversation, right? So I think that he’s absolutely earned an opportunity to continue to work at that this offseason, and if he plays shortstop the way that he did these last, whatever it is, six weeks or so, that’s a good shortstop.”
— manager Blake Butera said at the end of the season

In August, news broke that shortstop CJ Abrams would play some second base, where Toboni said he believed Abrams has Gold Glove potential. Abrams played 14 games at second base, and his OAA (outs above average) per Statcast was right at league average 0.0.

Abrams’ shortstop OAA was -17.0 and tied for the worst in baseball. To be honest, Nasim Nunez wasn’t much better as his OAA was a -5.0 with only 144 chances. Since OAA is a cumulative statistic, you have to look at the total chances. Abrams had 511 chances at shortstop. Extrapolate those numbers and Nunez’s defense was worse as that would be a -17.7 OAA.

Nunez was once considered as the short-term bridge to the heir apparent, Eli Willits, but now there is no easy answer since Nunez just was not good at shortstop. Nationals No. 3 prospect (MLB No. 51) Seaver King, who was the primary shortstop at Triple-A Rochester is the other name on the depth chart.

Today there was added drama around Abrams and the whole shortstop situation. A story broke from Punchoutpitch (below). That X.com account has been known to twist context. Above you can read exactly what Jon Morosi said, and that sounds like an opinion — not anything Abrams said.

CJ Abrams wants to play shortstop and will only sign an extension with the Nationals if there is “some degree of assurance” given he will play there, per @jonmorosi pic.twitter.com/xkZVuwGlV7
— Punchoutpitch (@Punchoutpitch) November 6, 2026

In fairness, we reached out to Jon Morosi who did not return our message, and we also sent a direct message to Abrams’ agent, Mike Sanders, with Roc Nation Sports, and he did not respond to our request.

So to be fair, let’s see if anyone responds after we publish this article. In the meantime, let’s not panic. The Nats control Abrams’ employment for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. They don’t have to trade him any time soon. But if the tweet above is factual, does any team want a player to dictate where he is going to play?

CJ Abrams reportedly doesn't want to sign an extension in Washington if the team doesn't view him as a shortstop. The Nationals have already shown their hand here. pic.twitter.com/4K8hJhxA0W
— 106.7 The Fan (@1067theFan) November 6, 2026

My mantra is DEFENSE MATTERS. And it does. But there is no good Plan B here. What if Abrams did extensive work this offseason and proved to be better on his shortstop defense? If that was the case, I would do a complete 180° turn here and commit to Abrams on an extension as the team’s shortstop if he agreed to work this winter on his defense at shortstop.

Even if Abrams isn’t the long-term answer, the thinking is Willits is the answer. He is still 18 years old and doesn’t turn 19 until next month. He needs time. He needs reps. If you want to be a postseason contender, is it fair to throw Willits into the fire that quickly? Some would say Cooper Pratt did it for the Milwaukee Brewers — but, but, but he is 22 years old. Pratt had 2023, 2024, 2025, and two months of 2026 in the minor league before he debuted in June.

Let’s say Abrams stays at shortstop in the near-term, that gives the Nats the ability to sign Luis Arraez for second base on a short-term deal and stash King at Triple-A a little longer. The Nats could then go with a righty at first base with Andres Chaparro and/or Yohandy Morales, and go after a big lefty bat like Trevor Larnach to platoon on the corner outfield.

Again, not everyone would agree with this. Not everyone would agree with any of this. No matter what any of us think or say does not matter. President of Baseball Operation, Paul Toboni, will make the decision. In the meantime, don’t panic. This will get figured out.

Here is my lineup with OPS against right-handed pitching stats from 2026: