Abbott continues to shine with Cincinnati Reds in MLB

By Harry Farley
JerryRatcliffe.com Correspondent

Virginia baseball alum Andrew Abbott is quickly becoming a household name in just his rookie season with the Cincinnati Reds.

After starting his first three games without surrendering a single run, Abbott has continued his near-perfect pitching and is 4-0 through his first six starts. He has a 1.21 ERA, 42 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.88.

Abbott has turned up his control of the ball over his last three starts, striking out a combined 30 hitters. Abbott struck out 10 batters against the Colorado Rockies on June 21, 8 batters against the Baltimore Orioles on June 27, and most recently a career-high 12 batters against the San Diego Padres, in which he also pitched a career-high 7.2 innings. 

Abbott continues to impress on the mound, and he’s doing it in historic fashion. Buckle up for a few mind-boggling statistics and historical feats that Abbott is achieving since his major league call-up.

Through his first six starts, he has not allowed a hit when there has been a runner in scoring position. Hitters are 0 for 14 against Abbott with RISP, which is the most at-bats without a hit for any pitcher who has debuted in the last 50 years.

Hitters are 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position against Andrew Abbott in his six career starts.

That is the most opposing at-bats w/ RISP without allowing a hit through six career games by any pitcher who debuted in the last 50 years.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 2, 2023

Abbott is also the first pitcher to record 40 strikeouts and less than 5 runs in his first six games since 1900.

Andrew Abbott is the 1st pitcher since 1900 to record at least 40 strikeouts while allowing 5 or fewer runs in his first 6 career games. pic.twitter.com/cHvBVYTgho

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 2, 2023

Finally, his ERA of 1.21 through six games is the second-lowest through a pitcher’s first six starts in Reds’ history — Tom Browning had a 0.95 ERA in his first six big-league starts in 1984-1985.

Abbott’s strong command of four different pitches — four-seam fastball, changeup, curveball, and sweeper ​​— is one of the reasons he was the Reds’ No. 5 prospect before being called up, and why he is such a difficult pitcher for opposing batters to deal with.

After Abbott’s most recent performance against the Padres, Cincinnati’s manager David Bell again praised the rookie.

“Today was probably the best start he’s had. To go that deep into the game is an incredible start to his career,” Bell said.

Meanwhile, Abbott remained composed about his hot major-league start, and knows to continue it, he has to keep at it.

“I kept telling myself, ‘Getting here is the dream, but staying here is the lifestyle that you want.’ You want to go in and do your hard work every day and just put your head down and go,” Abbott said.

As Abbott’s rookie season draws on, he continues to demonstrate all the makings of a potential ace on the mound in the MLB. The Reds are currently 47-39 and sit in 1st place in the NL Central. Abbott’s perfect 4-0 start has been key to their recent success as he is already an integral part of Cincinnati’s pitching rotation, which will hopefully carry into the postseason later this year.