CJ Abrams, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft and the fifth-ranked prospect in the Padres organization according to Fangraphs, has been promoted from the Arizona Rookie League to the TinCaps, the team announced today.

Abrams arrived in Fort Wayne on Monday and will be in the lineup today, when the TinCaps take on the West Michigan Whitecaps at 12:05 p.m. The 18-year-old Abrams will likely play shortstop and hit near the top of the lineup.

"CJ loves to play the game," said Ben Sestanovich, the Padres director of player development. "When he's on the baseball field, you can just tell, he's got a good way about him, good energy. It's fun to get a chance to watch him play. On a nightly basis, his combination of speed and ability to put the ball in play is going to lead some exciting nights here at Parkview Field."

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Abrams immediately becomes the top-ranked prospect on the TinCaps' roster and the youngest player in the Midwest League. He will be the only 18-year-old in the league, but this is not a rushed promotion by the Padres. Abrams was a star in rookie ball, hitting .401 with three home runs and 22 RBI in 32 games with the AZL Padres. He stole 14 bags and scored 40 runs, showing himself to be an absolute terror on the basepaths, and slugged .622, displaying surprising power for a middle infielder.

"CJ got to us with very advanced bat-to-ball skills," Sestanovich said. "He had a very nice start to his pro career.... He did everything you could want offensively. (The Padres front office) thought, as a way to finish his year with some baseball outside of the (rookie) league level, we thought that would be a platform for him to have a really nice end to his year and go into the off-season having had a taste of playing in a stadium, traveling, having a taste of what a full minor-league season feels like."

Abrams becomes the second straight Padres first-round pick to reach the Midwest League before the end of his draft season. Ryan Weathers, the No. 7 pick in the 2018 draft, made three starts for Fort Wayne near the end of the 2018 season.

Abrams will likely have a much more significant effect than those three starts from Weathers, however. The ultra-athletic infielder will be a spark plug at the top of the lineup and has drawn comparisons to Seattle Mariners speedster Dee Gordon. Fangraphs gives him top-of-the-scale 80-grade speed and highly rates his ability to put the bat on the ball. He only struck out in 9% of his AZL at-bats.

The best Fort Wayne-centric comparison to Abrams right now is probably Xavier Edwards. The left-handed swinging Abrams has more pop in his bat than Edwards, who was a Midwest League All-Star this season before being promoted to High-A Lake Elsinore, but otherwise their games are similar. Expect some bunts from Abrams at the plate, along with plenty of line drives in the gap.

"We're looking for (Abrams) to come here and experience what minor-league baseball is like on a nightly basis at the full-season level, get his feet wet," Sestanovich said. "We think that this level provides a ton for the first step in these guys' development, from the facilities to the fans to the coaching staff here. I think (the TinCaps coaching staff) does a great job of providing structure that is just a little different than what we can do in Arizona."

Abrams' presence means that the TinCaps will likely see less of Tucupita Marcano and Justin Lopez at shortstop. Abrams has a good arm, but he isn't the smoothest fielder yet, certainly not on the level of Marcano. Still, the pair of them up the middle will be formidable.

To make room on the roster for Abrams, the Padres are sending infielder Luke Becker to short-season Tri-City. Becker was hitting .147 in 20 games with Fort Wayne.

dsinn@jg.net