Bryan Enrique Abreu (born April 22, 1997) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Abreu signed with the Astros as an international free agent in 2013, and made his major league debut in 2019.
| Bryan Abreu | |
|---|---|
| Houston Astros – No. 52 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: April 22, 1997 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 31, 2019, for the Houston Astros | |
| MLB statistics (through August 9, 2024) | |
| Win–loss record | 12–6 |
| Earned run average | 2.57 |
| Strikeouts | 320 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Early life
editBryan Abreu was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. At age 13, he worked in construction and assisted an uncle, a mechanic, in repairing cars. Tall and notably athletic, the first sport Abreu began playing was basketball, and when he was 14, began playing baseball. It was at age 14 that his mother suggested that he choose a sport on which to focus, and Abreu chose baseball.[1]
Career
edit2013-18
editAbreu signed with the Houston Astros as an international free agent in November 2013.[2] He made his professional debut in 2014 with the Dominican Summer League Astros, going 0–2 (win–loss record, W–L) with a 6.55 earned run average over 22 relief innings pitched.
Starting in 2014 and throughout his professional baseball career in the Houston Astros organization, Abreu has worked extensively with pitching coach Erick Abreu, who has also served in various levels within the Astros' minor league system.[1]
Bryan Abreu returned to the Dominican Summer League Astros in 2015, earning a 2–2 record and a 3.83 earned run average over 14 games (ten starts). In 2016, he began the year with the Greeneville Astros before being reassigned to the Gulf Coast League Astros. Over 38 2⁄3 innings, he went 2–5 with a 4.89 earned run average.
In 2017, Abreu returned to Greeneville and compiled a 1–3 record with a 7.98 earned run average in eight games (six starts),[3] and in 2018, he pitched for both the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Quad Cities River Bandits, going 6–1 with a 1.49 earned run average over 14 games (seven starts).[4] The Astros added Abreu to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season.[5]
2019–22
editIn 2019, he began the year with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers before being promoted to the Corpus Christi Hooks, with whom he was named a Texas League All-Star.[6]
On July 31, 2019, the Astros promoted Abreu to the major leagues.[7] He made his major league debut that night, pitching a scoreless inning in relief.[8] The following day, he was optioned back to Double-A Corpus Christi.[9] In 2020, Abreu struggled with accuracy, walking seven batters and hitting two in 3 1⁄3 innings before being optioned off the roster.[10]
Abreu closed out the last three outs on July 23, 2022, in a 3–1 win versus the Seattle Mariners for his first save on the season.[11]
He authored a breakout season in 2022, appearing in career-high 55 games, and produced a 1.94 earned run average, 4–0 won-loss record, two saves, 2.12 fielding independent pitching (FIP) and 88 strikeouts,[12] leading the Astros with 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9).[13]
In a three-game sweep of the Mariners in the 2022 American League Division Series (ALDS), Abreu appeared in each game, delivering 3 1⁄3 shutout innings, allowing two total baserunners, and striking out six.[14] In Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, Abreu struck out the side in the seventh inning of a 5–0 combined no-hitter of the Philadelphia Phillies. He relieved starting pitcher Cristian Javier, and Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly followed Abreu. It was the third no-hitter in major league postseason history, and the second in World Series play, following Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956.[a][15] The Astros defeated the Phillies in six games to give Abreu his first career World Series title.[16] Abreu pitched 11 1⁄3 shutout innings in the 2022 postseason, appearing in 10 of the Astros' 13 contests, and struck out 19 batters.[17]
2024
editOn September 18, 2024, Abreu logged his 100th strikeout, a second consecutive season with the total. He joined Octavio Dotel (2001–02) and Brad Lidge (2004–06) as the only relievers to achieve the feat as members of the Astros.[18] Abreu led MLB in holds with 38,[19] and was second in the American League (AL) in pitching appearances with 78, a career high. He was 3–3 with a 3.10 ERA, 78 1⁄3 innings, 32 BB, 103 SO, and 1.162 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). In the AL Wild Card Series (WCS), Abreu made one appearance, posting 1 1⁄3 scoreless inning while striking out 2 versus the Detroit Tigers, who eventually swept the best-of-3 series.[12]
International career
editAbreu made his World Baseball Classic (WBC) debut in 2023, pitching for the Dominican Republic.[20]
See also
edit
References
edit- Footnotes
- ^ The other no-hit contest in postseason play was pitched by Roy Halladay in the 2010 National League Division Series.
- Sources
- ^ a b Lerner, Danielle (October 28, 2022). "How a pitching session in the Dominican Republic launched Bryan Abreu on path to Astros". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
- ^ Batterson, Steve (August 8, 2018). "It begins with trust for Bandits' Abreu". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
- ^ "StackPath". Baseball-farm.com. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- ^ Jones, Sonny (January 31, 2019). "Woodpeckers: 64 days and counting". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- ^ Rome, Chandler (November 20, 2018). "Astros add Garrett Stubbs, Rogelio Armenteros, Bryan Abreu to 40-man roster". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
- ^ "Four Hooks players named to Texas League All-Star Game". June 15, 2019.
- ^ "Abreu becomes 1st Woodpecker to reach majors". The Fayetteville Observer. July 31, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- ^ "Houston Astros at Cleveland Indians Box Score, July 31, 2019". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
- ^ "Astros' Bryan Abreu: Optioned to Double-A". cbssports.com. August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
- ^ Gleisner, Andrew (February 19, 2021). "Astros: Can Bryan Abreu make the 2021 big league roster?". Climbing Tal's Hill. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
- ^ "Verlander 1st 13-game winner, Astros beat Mariners 3–1". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 24, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
- ^ a b "Bryan Abreu stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Houston Astros statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
- ^ "2022 AL Division Series - Houston Astros over Seattle Mariners (3–0)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
- ^ Schaeffer, Steve (November 2, 2022). "Easy as 7-8-9: Over last 3 innings, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, Ryan Pressly finish Astros' Game 4 no-hitter". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ Rome, Chandler (November 5, 2022). "Undisputed: 'It proves we're the best team in baseball ... They have nothing to say now.'". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
- ^ "Bryan Abreu pitching gamelogs for postseason career games 2 to 11". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
- ^ Schwab, Michael [@michaelschwab13] (September 18, 2024). "Bryan Abreu has posted a 3.18 ERA with 100 strikeouts this season" (Tweet). Houston. Retrieved September 19, 2024 – via Twitter.
Became the third reliever in Astros history to log 100 strikeouts in back-to-back seasons, joining RHP Octavio Dotel (2001-02) and RHP Brad Lidge (2004-06), per the Astros
- ^ "MLB player pitching stats 2024". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
- ^ Jasner, Andy (February 27, 2023). "Astros players excited for opportunity to compete in WBC". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
External links
edit- Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet