WASHINGTON — This has not been the easiest month for CJ Abrams. But the version that strolled up to the plate in the third inning on Monday night did not seem to recognize it.His name has returned to the trade rumor mill, with the deadline just four weeks away. Several bad habits have crept back in, chief among them the propensity to chase pitches down and away. Over the last three weeks, Abrams is hitting .188 and ranks 183rd of 184 players in xWOBA, a catch-all stat that explains a hitter’s quality of contact and ability to get on base.But this is still an All-Star — sorry, a two-time All-Star, and the starting shortstop for the National League, after Saturday’s announcement — and the Houston Astros pitching staff is still the Astros pitching staff. And it is not so much that Abrams tied the score with the ensuing three-run home run, one that lifted the Washington Nationals to a 12-11 win over Houston, nor that he matched last year’s home run total (19) with the swing. It was how he felt when he swung the bat that suggests that Abrams, maybe, has matured into a brand-new baseball player, one who might not let a skid extend through the better part of the summer.“I was relaxed,” Abrams said. “I think being relaxed at the plate, being able to recognize pitches, is good. That’s when I’m going good. So, just stay relaxed, so I can swing at good pitches and not try to do too much.”The Nationals are in the middle of a postseason push, which more specifically means their clubhouse is in the middle of trying to prove to the front office that it’s worth keeping players like Abrams around to see it through. It is unclear whether Abrams will have the chance, with the Nationals’ roster overperforming and their front office thinking about the bigger picture above everything else.“There’s always noise, rumors, stuff like that,” Abrams told The Athletic last week. “Once again, you can’t let it get to you. You can’t control that. So might as well just let it happen.”This is the third time in Abrams’ professional career that his name has been the subject of trade rumors. To deal with those murmurs, lulls and push notifications on his phone, Abrams has turned to meditation.“I just kind of sit there until the feeling goes away,” Abrams said. “Whether that’s mad, happy, it’s kind of just feeling it. It’s feeling it, then letting the feelings go.”Abrams began the practice years ago. He can’t remember what spurred it, but he never felt it was important enough to become a consistent habit until his season tailed off last year. Now, he won’t let a day go by without it.Those feelings, or rather their absence, have weighed him down in the past. It does not help that his eyes naturally wander to the scoreboard, and that scoreboard tends not to shield him from his results. But he is trying his darnedest to look elsewhere. To focus elsewhere. A few minutes each day, at home or the team hotel, is all he needs to re-center.“As a human, you have a mind and a body, and they’re connected, so it’s just being able to control it as best as you can,” Abrams said. “It’s harder to control the mind, and especially nowadays, you see all these certain things on your phone and stuff. It can kind of get to you. But, like I said, just be able to let the feelings go.”The coaching staff has helped. It’s been common for players to share that they feel more prepared this season. But many have also implied, or even outright shared, that the new coaching staff does not tinker unless there is a clear need. There is no need, at least at the moment, to change Abrams’ swing. His breath? Sure.That can take many forms. Maybe it’s a calming embrace with James Wood, who hit a 446-foot grand slam on Monday to put the game out of reach. Maybe it’s their familiarity with deficits, or rather their familiarity with overcoming them, that allows Abrams’ heart to steady in big moments. Or maybe it’s the relationship with his first-year manager.If Abrams begins the night 0-for-2, Blake Butera said, the 25-year-old shortstop will often look over to his manager and offer something to the effect of, “I know, I need to do something.”To which his manager will quip: “Yeah, what are you waiting on? The game started an hour and a half ago.”“It’s just a lot like having fun back and forth, keeping it light, just because we both know how good of a player he is,” Butera said. “I think sometimes you can maybe create more of an issue (by dwelling on it) rather than like just letting them play and have some fun with it.”Whether that message will stick if Abrams stops hitting .274 with an .860 OPS remains to be seen. Whether Butera is even the one to deliver that message to Abrams at the end of the season remains to be seen. A light market for hitters (and the absence of meaningful extension talks) suggests that teams will come calling. For now, Abrams said, he is focused on his breath, the process and also, when he can, the future.“I think we’re going to be really good,” Abrams said. “We’ve seen it. We’ve got to keep going, but like I said, the trading stuff and all that is going to take care of itself. I’m just here to win games with the Nats right now. I think we’re doing a really good job of that. We’re building.”