Padres shortstop prospect CJ Abrams has been diagnosed with a fractured left tibia and sprained MCL, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic (Twitter link). His recovery comes with a three-month timetable, ending his season. He suffered the injury during an on-field collision on Wednesday.
Abrams is one of the sport’s most electrifying minor league talents. Each of Baseball America, Keith Law of the Athletic, and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him among the game’s top 11 overall prospects entering the year. The 6th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Abrams draws praise for his abilities on both sides of the ball. A top-of-the-scale runner and extremely advanced hitter, the 20-year-old is seen as a potential future star.
He’s reached the high minors for the first time this season. Through 183 plate appearances with Double-A San Antonio, Abrams has hit .296/.363/.420 with a pair of home runs and 13 stolen bases. That’s quality production from any player in a pitcher-friendly environment, but it’s particularly impressive considering Abrams’ youth.
Abrams never seemed especially likely to make an impact at the major league level this season. Because of last year’s canceled minor league campaign, he has all of 348 plate appearances since being drafted out of a Georgia high school. He also doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man roster this winter. Any small chance that existed of Abrams making his major league debut this year is now gone, although the expectation seems to be he’ll have a relatively normal offseason and be ready for Spring Training in 2022.
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