The Washington Nationals demoted shortstop CJ Abrams to the minor leagues on Saturday.
Abrams was reportedly spotted at a Chicago-area casino on Friday morning around 8 a.m. CT before the Nationals played a mid-day contest against the Cubs that started at 1 p.m. CT.
Abrams was sent down to Washington's West Palm Beach minor-league complex and won't return for the Nationals' eight remaining regular-season games.
"I just want it to be known (Abrams' demotion) wasn't performance based," Washington manager Dave Martinez told the Washington Post's Andrew Golden. "It's an internal issue. I'm not going to give specifics." Abrams led off for Washington in Friday's game and went 0-for-3. He also walked and struck out in the Nationals' 3-1 loss.
Source: CJ Abrams was at the Bally’s casino in the loop until 8 am this morning.
Perhaps fade him on the books today. Perhaps.
— Cody Delmendo (@Cody_CHGO) September 20, 2024
Abrams, 23, earned his first All-Star appearance this season. He's batting .246 with 20 home runs and 65 RBI, while stealing 31 bases, across 138 games.
The Nationals entered Sunday 68-86 and in fourth place in the NL East.
What Abrams was doing at the casino is unknown. However, this isn't the first incident surrounding MLB players and gambling.
MLB's player union, MLB Players Inc., recently filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and bet365 in Pennsylvania federal court over alleged misuse of player likenesses without consent. A similar suit by MLBPI was filed against FanDuel and Underdog Fantasy in New York state court.
In June, MLB bannedPadres infielder Tucupita Marcano and gave Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Padres pitcher Jay Groome, Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank and Phillies infielder José Rodríguez one-year suspensions for gambling activity.
