Could CJ Abrams be a longterm extension candidate for Nats?

“There he is! There he is!” the boy said as he stretched on his tip toes and patted his friend’s shoulder. “There’s the dreads! There’s the dreads!”

He had spotted Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams, who had just stepped off the bus. And he wasn’t alone. Another kid stopped Abrams as he walked from the buses to tell Abrams he liked his drip. Many Nationals coaches and staff would note that day how kids swarmed around Abrams, who was surprised himself.

“All you saw was a smile from cheek to cheek,” third base coach Ricky Gutierrez said last year. “He even said, ‘I see what Michael Jordan feels like.’ I said, ‘Okay, so you don’t mind being the face of the team?’ ”

Abrams is one of the most recognizable players on Washington’s rebuilding roster. He is part of a young core that includes catcher Keibert Ruiz, right-hander Josiah Gray and lefty MacKenzie Gore, a group tasked with leading the Nationals into a new era. Keeping that core together would certainly help them sustain success, if they find it.

The 23-year-old, who arrived in Washington in 2022 as part of the Juan Soto trade, has had an up-and-down tenure as a National but enters the 2024 season after a solid spring. His 2023 campaign had a rocky start — including three errors on Opening Day. As the months rolled by, he was inconsistent but at times electrifying, and as fall approached, he showed flashes of the player the Nationals hoped he could be. Abrams won’t be a free agent for several years — not until after the 2028 season. But now, as baseball begins anew, it’s okay to wonder: Could Abrams commit to a long-term future in Washington? And would Washington commit to him?

“Thoughts arise, but you got to stay focused,” Abrams said. “Whenever it happens, it happens. Just take care of business and the task at hand.”

Last season, when the Nationals were visiting the Bronx to face the New York Yankees, a kid stood near Washington’s dugout with an alien chain like the one Abrams wears, hoping to trade it for one of his bats. The moment came amid his second-half emergence at the plate. That series was bookended by Abrams’s go-ahead homer in the opener and another blast in the finale.

The Abrams of the second half was confident and self-assured — that wasn’t consistently the case in the first. Before the all-star break, Abrams chased pitches out of the zone 37.2 percent of the time, according to TruMedia — specifically balls low and away. He also swung at balls too far on the inside part of the plate, got jammed and grounded out weakly.

Defensively, his inconsistent mechanics resulted in errant throws early…