The Washington Nationals are preparing to shift CJ Abrams to second base, but that move should not be read as a straight line to Seaver King’s arrival in the majors.
King, a top-100 shortstop prospect, has put together a breakout year in Triple-A Rochester, which naturally raises the question of whether the Nationals will finally call him up. For now, though, the organization is still leaning toward patience. People familiar with the team’s thinking said the Nationals would rather give King more at-bats and more defensive work in Triple-A before forcing the issue.
At the same time, Washington wants to see how Abrams and Nasim Nuñez handle their new arrangement in the middle infield. Nuñez has become the club’s primary shortstop, and the team is interested in whether both players can settle into flipped roles.
King’s production in Rochester makes the decision harder to ignore. He entered Saturday hitting .296 with an .854 OPS in 45 Triple-A games, and his rise comes as the Nationals’ postseason odds have thinned and the club continues searching for clarity on its infield of the future. The team dropped to 60-65 after Saturday’s 5-4 walk-off loss to the Mets.
There is still a case for keeping King in the minors the rest of the way. More time there would give him a chance to keep sharpening his plate discipline, and Nuñez’s defense at shortstop could still provide value for the next two seasons. There is also the matter of timing and optics: moving an All-Star off his primary position, then handing the spot to a rookie, could create an awkward chain reaction, especially if the Nationals eventually decide King needs to move elsewhere because of the organization’s depth in the minors.
But the push to promote him before season’s end is real, too. It would give one of Washington’s best prospects a chance to collect major league at-bats, get used to the staff and clubhouse, and answer a key front-office question about whether he can be part of a bigger push when the club is better positioned to contend in 2027. There is also the simple argument that he has earned the opportunity.
Earlier this year, several evaluators told The Athletic that King had a chance to stick at shortstop, but they wondered whether the defensive growth would come fast enough. Like Abrams, he had already shown he could make the spectacular play. The concern was consistency.
That part has started to change.
King’s early struggles in 2025 and the beginning of 2026 were tied to routine mistakes, and when the organization studied the film, two issues kept showing up: his arm slot was too high, and his footwork did not consistently carry his momentum toward first base. Coaches have since worked with him to lower the arm slot and tighten the footwork so his body is moving in the right direction as he throws. Errors are not a perfect measure, but the numbers suggest progress: after 10 errors in 300 innings at Double-A Harrisburg, King has committed just three errors in 391 innings at Rochester, with only one coming since his first week there.
The flashier stuff is already there. Farm director Devin Pearson described the highlight plays as “separator plays,” the kind most players simply are not expected to make.
“They’re the ‘wow’ plays - but for him, they’re easy because the reactions and athleticism are so good,” Pearson said. “He can make those plays, not really have to think and get the guy out. It’s the plays where he has the time that we’ve been working on, and he’s gotten better.”
Offensively, though, is where the final call likely gets made. King hit .244 with a .631 OPS across multiple levels in 2025, a year marked by inconsistent instruction and a lack of hard, elevated contact.
He also chased 38 percent of pitches outside the zone. Help from within the organization, advice from top prospect Kevin McGonigle in the Arizona Fall League and a return to his collegiate swing and approach helped him take off in Double-A Harrisburg.
His move to Rochester brought a setback, and then another stretch of progress. Before going on the injured list in early July with a left oblique strain, King had a 38.9 percent chase rate.
Since returning at the end of the month, that number has dropped to 32.1 percent, though the sample remains small. That leaves the Nationals where they have been all along: intrigued, encouraged and still willing to wait.
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