Shohei Ohtani is the first member of the 50/50 Club and entered in dramatic fashion
Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports remembers Shohei Ohtani’s epic performance that resulted in him becoming the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
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(This story has been updated to add new information)
Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was furious after learning that All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams spent the entire night at a Chicago casino before playing a game at Wrigley Field five hours later on Friday afternoon, and demoted him to the minor leagues for the remainder of the season.
The Nationals announced the move Saturday morning before their game against the Chicago Cubs. He had originally been sent to Triple-A Rochester, but with that team’s season ending Sunday, Abrams will spend the rest of the season at the Nationals’ minor league complex in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The night shift will cost Abrams about $30,000 in salary, but it will not affect his status as a Super 2 player, who is eligible for arbitration for the first time, since he has already spent 172 days on the major league roster.
Abrams, the Nationals’ lone All-Star representative and a key player in the Juan Soto trade two years ago, struggled in the second half, posting just a .203 batting average and a .326 slugging percentage.
Still, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said the demotion had nothing to do with his play and told him of the team’s decision on Friday after he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two stolen bases on Thursday night.
Abrams went hitless on Friday and was summoned to Martinez’s office after the game, where he was asked about a social media post on X that said he was at Bally’s Casino in Chicago until 8 a.m.
“I just want it to be known that it was not performance-related,” Martinez told reporters before Saturday’s game. “It’s an internal matter. I’m not going to go into detail or talk about specifics because I have to keep everything private. There are other people out there that I want to support.”
“I will support CJ. He is an important part of our Nats family and he will remain so. But without going into details, it was the right thing to do.”
Follow Nightengale on X @Bnightengale
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