CJ Abrams has spent 2026 rewriting what a Nationals shortstop can be. His latest blast - home run No. 27 - didn’t just add to a career year. It moved him past Ian Desmond for the most homers ever by a Washington Nationals shortstop, with Desmond’s mark of 25 from 2012 finally falling during Abrams’ two-homer day against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 26.
That kind of production is rare enough for any player. For a shortstop, it still carries a little extra punch.
Through 109 games, Abrams has already reached a career-best 28 home runs, blowing past his previous high of 20 in 2024 and the 19 he had through 144 games in 2025. FanGraphs has him among the National League’s top power bats, just behind teammate James Wood.
He’s also put together the kind of all-around offensive line that changes how a lineup looks around him: a .917 OPS, a league-leading 85 RBI through 466 plate appearances, and his second career All-Star selection. One other note that stands out - this is the first season Abrams will finish with more than 65 RBI.
The Nationals may not look like a real postseason threat right now, even if anything can happen over the next couple of months, but Abrams has become a key piece of a young, dangerous lineup.
His breakout also fits into a much bigger story about the shortstop position itself. Once upon a time, the job was mostly about range, hands, and arm strength.
Offense was a bonus. Then came Cal Ripken Jr., the 6-foot-4 Hall of Famer who is widely credited with revolutionizing the position and showing that a shortstop could be a force on both sides of the ball for a long time.
But before Ripken, there was Ernie Banks.
Mr. Cub debuted in 1953 at age 22 and spent most of his first nine seasons as the Cubs’ shortstop before a knee injury from his army service made the position too difficult for him at 30.
In 1961, he played 104 games at shortstop and 23 in left field before settling in at first base for the rest of his Hall of Fame career, which ended in 1971. He ultimately played more big-league games at first base (1,259) than at shortstop (1,125), but his offensive peak came while he was still on the left side of the infield.
From 1957 through 1960, Banks was a machine. He played at least 154 games in each season and did just about everything a slugger could do.
He hit 47 home runs and drove in 129 runs in 1958 while also leading the league in slugging percentage at .614 and total bases with 379, winning his first MVP. In 1959, he hit 45 homers and led the league again with 143 RBI on his way to another MVP.
He closed the stretch in 1960 with 41 homers, a fourth-place finish in MVP voting, and his only Gold Glove.
Across those four seasons, Banks averaged a .293/.362/.586 line with 44 home runs, 29 doubles, 123 RBI, and 106 runs scored. Nobody hit more homers or drove in more runs during that span, according to FanGraphs: Banks had 176 homers and 491 RBI, ahead of Hank Aaron’s 153 homers and 476 RBI. He was also one of just three players to top 30.0 fWAR in that stretch, alongside Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.
As big as Abrams’ season is, the shortstop home run standard still sits in another galaxy. The single-season record belongs to Alex Rodriguez, who hit 57 home runs for the Texas Rangers in 2002. The source of that season carries its own baggage - A-Rod’s admitted performance-enhancing drug use - but the number itself remains absurd for a middle infielder.
Abrams is not going to get close to that mark this year. That doesn’t take anything away from what he’s doing. It just shows how high the bar has been set for shortstops who can truly punish the baseball.
Banks showed a shortstop could hit like a cleanup bat. Ripken showed the position could be played at an elite level by a bigger body over the long haul.
Rodriguez blasted the power ceiling into another stratosphere. And now Abrams, at 25 and still climbing, is the latest reminder that premium offense can come from one of baseball’s most demanding defensive spots.
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