Breaking down Andrew Abbott’s MLB debut
Photo by Aaron Doster (Getty Images)
CINCINNATI - Andrew Abbott toed the rubber at Great American for the first time in his young career this past Monday. Two years ago, the Cincinnati Reds selected Abbott in the second-round of the MLB draft and he rewarded them Monday night in his debut. The Reds called Abbott up on Sunday to join some of their other exciting young pitching prospects already in the big leagues. The 24-year-old left-handed pitcher who attended the University of Virginia, is the Red’s sixth best prospect and the 95th overall prospect on MLB.com. At the time of his promotion, Abbott had struck out 90 batters through 54 innings between Double-A and Triple-A to the tune of a 2.50 earned run average.
With family and friends in attendance, Abbott went to work on the Milwaukee Brewers’ lineup. He threw six scoreless innings while striking out six, and did not give up a hit until the fifth inning. After battling through a 28 pitch first inning, he was able to close it out with his first MLB strikeout on Christian Yelich to end the frame. From there, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. At one point, he set down 10 Brewers in a row using a low to mid-90s fastball accompanied by a sweeping slider and a devastating curveball.
By the time it was over, Abbott had twirled a six inning gem where he allowed one hit and only five hitters to reach base. His stellar start gave the Reds a 2-0 victory over the Brewers and helped them avoid a sweep at home. More importantly, it showed Reds fans what they can expect in the future. A starting rotation including Abbott alongside Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, and Nick Lodolo gives the Reds a chance to compete in the weaker NL Central as soon as next season.
