Bryan Abreu

Abreu graduated from middle relief to high leverage as an important part of the Astros' late-inning bridge to closer Ryan Pressly. The fourth-year pro tallied a career-high 60.1 innings across 55 appearances, of which 17 were multi-inning stints. Walks (3.9 BB/9) were still an issue, but Abreu's 13.1 K/9 was 7th-best among qualified relievers thanks to a devastating slider that produced 63 of his 88 strikeouts. Abreu's fastball wasn't as effective, but he added a tick-and-a-half of velocity on average (97.2 mph) and approached triple-digits during the World Series. He also generated plenty of whiffs (98th percentile) while limiting hard contact with elite barrel (95th%) and hard hit (89th) percentages. Despite the breakout season, Abreu is unlikely to see many save chances in 2023 with Rafael Montero and Hector Neris likely ahead of him in the hierarchy. He's still worth a look in deeper formats for strikeouts and ratio support.

Abreu broke summer camp with the Astros as a middle reliever, but persistent control issues limited him to four appearances before he was demoted to the alternate training site. Expected to serve in a multi-inning capacity, Abreu only logged 3.1 frames, walking seven with only three punchouts. Abreu has a live arm but can't throw strikes consistently with any of his four pitches. Small-sample disclaimers apply, but his best pitch last season was his slider which Abreu thew for strikes at only a 53% clip. He only garnered strikes at a 20% rate on his curve, 23.1% on his fastball and 38.5% with his sinker. While these would improve with more than 3.1 innings thrown, those numbers are representative of the work Abreu needs to do to become an effective major-league pitcher. Fortunately for Abreu, Houston is adept at refining repertoires to maximize efficiency.

Abreu entered 2019 having never pitched above Low-A. He ended it in the Astros' bullpen. The 22-year-old righty made seven relief appearances, allowing just one run in 8.2 innings while striking out 13 batters. Results were considerably more mixed in 91.1 innings in the minors, where he primarily worked as a starter. His 31.8 K% at those levels was promising, though it came with a 13.6 BB%. His breaking ball, which is thrown at the speed of a slider (86 mph) but has the shape of a curveball, grades out as a 70-grade pitch, making it one of the best breaking balls on the planet. He threw it 65.1% of the time in the majors. He has a mid-90s fastball, but his seldom-thrown changeup is just a show-me pitch, which coupled with his command woes, points to a future in the bullpen. Houston may continue to develop him as a starter, but whenever they pull the plug, he could be a lights-out late-inning reliever.