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Dec 17, 2023

Andrew Abbott dazzles in debut, Stephenson homers in 2

Andrew Abbott had a few struggles early on with his control, but the left-handed

Andrew Abbott had a few struggles early on with his control, but the left-handed rookie battled through it in his major league debut and held the Brewers to one hit over 6.0 shutout innings. The Cincinnati Reds offense did just enough, clubbing two solo home runs, to win 2-0 on Monday night. The win ended Cincinnati's 4-game losing streak and helped them avoid being swept by Milwaukee.

Andrew Abbott had to work around a 2-out walk in his first big league inning, and he ran up his pitch count a bit, but he got through things unscathed. In the following inning he walked the first two batters he faced, but was able to clamp down and get a fly out and two strikeouts to end the inning. The 3rd inning was exactly what the lefty needed – a 1-2-3 inning that saw him throw just eight pitches. That ran his pitch count to 61 through three innings.

Stuart Fairchild led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with a solo home run into the left field seats to put the Reds up 1-0. T.J. Hopkins followed up with a single into right field, picking up his first big league hit in the process.

Andrew Abbott had another quick inning in the 4th, throwing just 11 pitches as he retired the side and kept his no-hitter going as he reached the 72-pitch mark on the day. Tyler Stephenson gave Abbott a little more breathing room with an opposite field solo home run in the bottom of the 4th to double the Reds lead to 2-0.

The Brewers would break up Abbott's no-hitter with a 1-out double in the 5th inning by Joey Wiemer. Five pitches later the inning was over and Cincinnati was still leading 2-0. Abbott walked Andruw Monasterio to start the 6th inning, but got back-to-back strikeouts before a fly out to end the inning. That would be the end of the day for the lefty, allowing just one hit in 6.0 innings while striking out six batters and working around four walks.

Buck Farmer took over the game for the Reds in the 7th. He worked around a 2-out double – the second of the day for Joey Wiemer – to hold onto the 2-run lead. Lucas Sims got the call from the bullpen for the 8th inning. He allowed an infield single to start the inning, but got out of the inning with a double play to keep the Brewers off of the board. Alexis Diaz came out for the 9th inning and finished the shutout by striking out all three batters in the inning to seal the win and help avoid the Reds being swept in the series.

In the top of the 2nd inning after Andrew Abbott walked the first two batters of the inning he was able to retire the side without giving up a run. It was the only time that Milwaukee would have more than one base runner on in an inning.

Reds pitchers with 6+ IP, 1 or fewer hits, and no runs allowed in MLB debut (since 1901)Andrew Abbott (6/5/2023)

— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) June 6, 2023

Jonathan India exited the game in the 8th inning with back tightness.

Buck Farmer's ERA is now down to 2.48.

Alexis Diaz has lowered his ERA to 1.54 on the season. He has 44 strikeouts and 11 walks in 23.1 innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Cincinnati Reds

Tuesday June 6th, 7:10pm ET

Luke Weaver (1-2, 5.36 ERA) vs Tony Gonsolin (3-1, 1.77 ERA)

Doug Gray is the owner of RedsMinorLeagues.com, Redleg Nation, and as you guessed it, passionate about the great sport of baseball. He's been writing about baseball since 2006 (contributions formerly at The Athletic and currently at Baseball America). You can keep tabs with him on twitter @dougdirt24.

Awesome game by Abbott, obviously, but also by Farmer, Sims, and Diaz (Yikes!). However, two runs on six hits with eight strike outs (or worse recently) isn't going to cut it on offense. Bring up the wood, Reds.

Still don't understand the hesitation by the Reds FO to bring up players from AAA! Just frustrating after the recent success shown by McLain and now Abbott.

The better the new youngsters perform, the more pressure on management to bring up the others. Hopefully.

They wanted to get him stretched out and closer to the 6 inning/100 pitch mark. Doesn't help the team if he is only going 5 innings/75 pitches in AAA and a risk to stress the bullpen just to move him up arbitrarily.

Hmmm, I wonder if Abbott has the stuff to pitch in the majors? I mean a 1 hit, scoreless 6 innings in his first start convinced me. I hope it convinced the front office. I hope Lodolo comes back strong and Williamson gets control of his pitches. Three lefties is the kind of rotation I like.

Maybe that means they did it right? I dunno, anyone think about that?

Don't believe his stuff was ever in question. There are things to be learned at every level of the. Minors. Abbott has been developed correctly.

Consider the wood brought up

EDLC to the show!!!

That"ll do Abbott…..that’ll do.

Pitching help (and solid bullpen) came just in time. The way the offense is going, a shut down is needed for the W. Need a big bat to fill the void left by Friedl

LOL The Reds just came off a win streak where they averaged 9 runs a game. A few down games does not mean the offense is going any particular way. Just that that's how baseball goes.

Love the way Abbot battled. Sprinkled in a walk here and there but made good pitches to get out of trouble when needed.

proud of AA, proud of bullpen, but, we need to get runners on base and get hits. I know all these pitchers are paid to get outs too, but we should be a little better than we are. Some of it is inexperience, but, they got called up for a reason. I firmly believe we are on the right track, I will be interested in offseason to see what we add w/o Votto's and Moose's contract hamstringing us.

Don't forget Junior's (Griffey) contract! I believe the Reds are still paying the deferred portion of his contract!

Stupid Griffey! (shakes fist at sky)

I believe they’re still paying on his dad's contract, too. Hey, bring them both back and stick them in the line-up batting 4/5!

One more $3.94m to Jr. next year 2024.

Believe by the rules Griffey's money is already spent in the form of an annuity and the money paid out goes from the annuity company to the Reds then out to Griffey. So that money was spent many years ago.

Welcome to The Show Andrew Abbott! Hope it's the first of many W's for this young man!

That might have been the most enjoyable game for me this year.

Piggybacking onto Jason's column the other day…..what if the Reds were trying to win. If they call up EDLC, CES, AA, and McLain atleast 5 weeks ago like they should’ve then 27-33 is at minimum 30-30! They still probably wouldn't survive this stretch coming up but still.

This is why understanding how WAR works actually matters. So, ignoring that 5 weeks ago we have no idea how any prospect might have performed, you still have to take away from what the already a major leaguer gave you. The difference is probably not, even at minimum, 3 wins in 5 weeks. Its the same reason I wretch every time people try to attach sometimes like 8 wins to Bell, only 2 months into the season.

All of you wrote off this season, and now suddenly its "gung-ho who cares about the long-term lets win now". The pitching is a major concern still, even if Abbott rides a white horse in and saves a few starts, so if the FO's direction is to play the long game more I’m fine with it. Relax and enjoy an enjoyable Reds team for once.

This is why be able to evaluate talent matters. The guys at AAA are far superior to Newman, Fairchild, Ashcrash, etc.They could’ve easily cut a catcher and let CES/Steer 1b/DH. Stephenson hit a Gabp special yesterday, but he's been bad overall. Newman over EDLC? C’mon?It must be lonely trying to justify Bell and the FO 140% of the time after losing 14 of the last 17 seasons or whatever it is. That's why there's only 2-3 of you

Lonely? I could care less about that. Following the rest of the sheep sounds terrible, no thanks. I dont want to live in a fantasy world where a couple of weeks with a rookie on the team means the team's in first place or whatever.

So far the Reds have outperformed their pythag. That could actually be an argument Bell's done well, but its not something I’d ever claim. Nothing I even said was a defense of Bell, just that when people start saying "If X had happened the team would have so many more wins!" it just makes me cringe. You were far more measured than I usually see so credit there 100%.

Ashcraft and Barrero are exactly the players we want at Cincinnati. And their development is something to note as we think about EDLC and CES, McLain and Abbott.

There will be good days and learning days, just watching Stephenson and India should inform that opinion. But lets not trade everyone when they go 0-5 one day, with 5 strikeouts. Because EDLC just had a day like that where he is currently employed. This is a tough game, but so much fun with all the new players. And Votto coming back.

The kids are alright

I’m not trying to argue and you’ve probably noticed I’m positive about as often as I’m negative, but there was no reason not to call up those guys after the Kris Bryant rule timeframe. EDLC is running all over the place and could get hurt, it would be a shame not to let him get a taste. They have nothing in front of these guys?

I don't agree that those guys should have been brought up 5 weeks ago, so I do agree with your there. AS for WAR, I personally think that is a misleading stat. For starters, much of WAR for any individual player is increased when better players are around them. Secondly, are you suggesting that a few 4 WAR players is not much better than 0 or negative WAR players?

Reagan, Barrero is nothing like Ashcraft, nor does he seem to be anything like the other top prospects. Barrero has had ZERO success in MLB, and had really one great year in the minors. So yes, I’d say he is not part of the future of this team, and I’d deal him ASAP, while there are possibly GM's that believe like you do in him.

@Indy

They are calling them up after Kris Bryant time. The rules then were a bit different I believe, and he only needed like a week in the minors I think to avoid the super two or add another year of control. The Reds did no different, they waited until they were clear of the super 2 restrictions.

@ Chris

What I’m suggesting is that 4 WAR players are very rare. The stat has flaws I’m completely aware of that, but the general takeaway is that it's really hard to be worth multiple wins, and in a few weeks to be multiple wins more than someone else is even more rare. Or non-existent even.

Glad to see Reds showcase the talent of promising players waiting for the chance at the show. You couldn't have ask more from Andrew Abbot. The footsteps of EDLC and CES should be near by. It's time for the Reds to move forward and onward from the mediocrity that hinders progress…

Ohio State football coach John Cooper on why he played freshmen, "If a dog is going to bite, he's going to bite as a pup."

Ohio State football coach John Cooper on how to win the big game…*crickets* 😉

Abbott took a big step tonight to possibly becoming one of the "Big Four" eventually. Great job. Looks like India might be down awhile now too. Friedl on the IL, Senzel, Fraley, India, do we not have ANYONE in AAA that could help? I don't think it's within the rules to start a game with less than nine players is it? 🙂 Diaz is awesome by the way. Better not trade him unless it's for some kind of BIG PACKAGE.

Actually there's this middle infielder in AAA who might do in a pinch. I think his name is Lopez, but other than that I can't think of anyone else who can help.

He's been playing right field lately, but has a couple of home runs. Something the Reds need….more power! Bring him up…STAT!!

Hahaha Actually Lopez probably could help but that's not quite who I was thinking of. 🙂

If they work out, I prefer to call them the "Fab Four".

We can wait for another one and then call them the "Fab Five". 🙂

I’m not sure about the "Big Four"" since two of them have an era approaching 7.00

Very reminiscent of his second start at AAA, where he had 4 or so BB's and was nibbling. We saw how that changed within a week or two there. Very impressive in AA, AAA, and now the show. Congrat's to Andrew.

He allowed five baserunners in six innings. That is a WHIP less than one. Had he allowed no walks and five hits, same WHIP. Walks increased his pitch count but so what, pitchers today only go 5-7 innings anyway due to arbitrarily imposed pitch counts. A walk puts a man on base, as does a hit, but the guy that walks only gets to first base. Can't say that about a guy who gets on by a hit.

Abbott becomes a baseball trivia answer in his 1st MLB game.

The Big 3 may have just become the Big 4. We just need Ashcraft to remember who he is, Greene seems to have regained him memory. Meanwhile the Little 3 Weaver, Williamson, and Lively have been producing above expectations.

Nice to see Hopkins get his 1st hit!

I’m kind of wondering just what is up with Ashcraft.

Has he hit some kind of ceiling here? And…Lodolo likely won't be back until August.

Will Big Tony Santillan come back as a reliever or a starter?

Stay tuned to "Does this Bell Ding for the Reds?"

"Will Big Tony Santillan come back as a reliever or a starter?"

If he does probably not for long if the poor guy doesn't lose some major weight.

I’m going with Ashcraft has hit a wall mentally. Let's hope we start to see a bounce back from him soon.

More like may be a replacement in the Big 3 for the one whose ERA over the past four or five starts is mid double digits. Ashcraft, in my opinion, cannot be considered a Big 3 lock. Studs have bad games now and then, but not stringing them like Ashcraft is doing. Abbott has a great start under his belt, but before he becomes a big anything he needs to sustain it. Before Lodolo become a big anything he needs to be pitching, and a lot better than he did before going on the IL.

Remember Wayne Simpson.

There is a big difference with Simpson's case. At the age 20/21 he threw nearly 350 innings in a 14 month period between AAA , winter ball, and MLB. And, the other of the currents have been babied as far as innings go.

I am more worried about the health of the big 3 than their ability to pitch here. Young pitchers are bound to go through growing pins, no big deal.

Very impressed with Abbott. I think he is one of the starting pitchers for years to come. He held the first place team to zero runs in his first start.

Great start for Abbott! Welcome to the show.

This was the first of the Brewers games I was able to watch (blackout in Asheville, clear in Atlanta). But if the Brewers are the best team in the division I’m not that impressed. No one scares me in that lineup, and they seem to have a bunch of starters down. Craig Counsell might be the most effective Brewer right now. So much depends on health, but the NL central is up for grabs this year. I’m not interested in selling the farm to chase a title, but I interested in promoting the farm toward the same goal. See what I did there? Go Reds!

That's what I’m talking about!!!! Bring the young talent up. Why wait until we are in last place to do that? Why add to our season's losses before you do it?? McCain, and now Abbott. Both should have been up long before this. Now bring up De La Cruz and CES!!! Go Reds!

if Stephenson can get going I think we can survive this month without getting too far behind. We need his bat

The greatest MLB debut I can remember from a Cincinnati pitcher came from Wayne Simpson in April of 1970. He tossed a two-hit shutout at Dodger Stadium in the team's fourth game of the season with no walks. He faced only 29 batters and the game lasted less than two hours. He also had a base hit himself. Too bad the young man blew out his shoulder by mid-season. He started his rookie year with a 13-1 record and appeared to be headed for stardom.

That's an important story

I remember it well. Simpson was the phenom of all phenoms. He was unhittable. But it only lasted for a half of a season. Jim Merritt blew out his arm by mid-season of 1970 also. Can you imagine a staff of healthy pitchers composed of Merritt, Simpson, Nolan, and Gullett for 5-6 years to go with the Big Red Machine? Add Ross Grimsley to it also. There would have been even more WS banners flying in Cincinnati.

I recall that 1970 team being 70-30 at 100 games into the season. Then the wheels fell off the pitching over the last 60 games. They finished at 102-60. They swept the Pirates 3-0 in the single round best of 5 NL playoffs (The Reds were in the NL West at the time) but went down to the Orioles 4-1 in the World Series. And I was younger for all this by a couple of years than Andrew Abbott is now!

The four man rotation of McGlothlin, Nolan, Merritt and Simpson did him (and Jim Merritt), in. If only Jim Maloney hadn't torn his achillies tendon in Spring Training of 1970 (which ended his career) and they then would have had a 5 man rotation. Might have saved the arms of both Merritt and Wayne Simpson.Don Gullett arrived in mid-season as a 19 year old flame throwing reliever.

What might have been.

Got to watch game on tv with 87 year-old father who is in hospital in Dayton.Really nice to be able to watch this with him.

That is special. As someone who lost both my parents in very similar situations I can say treasure these types of moments.

Great to hear that. We agonize over the roster, the in-game management, and every outcome. But in the bigger picture it's only a game. What you shared with your father, that actually matters. Thanks for sharing that with us, and so glad you got to share that game with your Dad.

So happy for you and thanks for sharing. My Dad and I spent many a day at Crosley Field.

Awesome

Andrew Abbott is a much needed addition to the Red's starting pitching staff. Now we rely on members of the ‘Little Three’ to get at least one of two from the Dodgers and then trust that Ashcraft is stabilized enough against Kershaw to get a series win. Then on to St. L. and K.C. who’ve both been struggling.

Outstanding historical debut of Abbott. He did it as the things are going from AA this season so far.Jake Fraley, Nick Senzel and now Jonathan India hurt. What are the Reds going to do if this guys need some days to recover? Will they play against LAD with 3 men down? The ELDC's time has arrived?

McLain and Abbott went from fringe, "maybe" future MLB contributors (going into the season), to top 100 prospects, to solid MLB performers in just a couple months.

That is some outstanding luck and development with prospects that the Reds needed in this rebuild!

The rotation might actually be coming together for next year. Abbott's not going to find a weaker lineup then Milwaukee, but he's actually fairly polished for a rookie.Ashcraft needs to reinvent himself somewhat, but the arm talent is there. Maybe it's because I’m a lefty myself but I still think Lodolo will be very good. The jury is out on Williamson, Lively, Weaver, and Ashcraft but it doesn't seem too far-fetched that they could find a solid 4 & 5 in there somewhere? Stoudt has a live arm too, but can't seem to pitch regularly

I would change your first sentence to "The potential of a rotation might actually be coming together for next year. "

The Reds will have some money to spend this offseason. Their biggest need by far will be to add a minimum of one well above average starting pitcher as an anchor to pitch with these young guys.

"Well above average" will be the key.

The sooner the term "innings eater" is retired from the criterion, the better.

WAA will cost well above average dinero.

Not a Dunn or a Minor or trade-away-the-farm-for-a-Latos.

I’d hate to see them blow their wad and not invest in the bullpen, too.

Well, Williamson had a pretty good debut against (probably) a better hitting team at Coors Field. He struggles a bit now.Before we annoint Andrew Abbott as the Second Coming, let's seem him pitch a few more games.Yes, he was very good last night. I hope that it continues. I expect a few set backs, and that is a natural thing for a young pitcher.

Yeah but you can see his stuff and his ability to change speeds. 93 to 79 to 86 on the change up. As opposed to Ashcrash 95-97 for 12 pitches in a row. It's like Eric Clapton to a guy that can play 2-3 chords. Changing speeds is pitching

Not sure I would say Williamson struggles. 4.29 ERA I will take. He gave up a three run and a two run homer in different games. If he keeps away from that his stats look great. He needs to learn to not give up the multiple run long balls. That's what I like about Weaver. Great stuff and when he gives one up it's a solo shots. I’m happy with both of them right now. Weaver, Williamson are out pitching Ashcraft and Lodolo. When those two get on the right track, the starting pitching will become a strength. To which Redleg nation will want to trade then. Smh

Nice win and debut. Now can we please get Newman out of leadoff.

Leadoff only matters in the first AB of the game, and Newman started this game with a hit.

The leadoff hitter gets the most at bats for the team. Id put Friedl there when healthy or McLain /India when he is out. I dont think folks want Newman getting 5 at bats every game and leading the team in plate appearances.

Assuming India and Friedl are back soon, the lineup should start:

1. India2. McClain3. Friedl4. Steer

Every game. Friedl is hitting for power, get runners on the bases if he is going to keep doing it.

Doc- and the most at bats. Not sure I want Kevin Newman in that spot.

Certainly a very fun game to watch. A little history in Abbott's debut helps more than a bit. Saturday's start will be one to watch from him. Talented LHSP's are a rare breed and I’m cautiously optimistic. Not ready to anoint him yet, but he battled and won. That's the first step.

Abbot reminded me of Fred Norman from the big Red machine era. Left handed that throws a big breaking ball and spots his fastball

Well deserved accolades for Abbott. But I think Maile deserves some credit too. Sounds like he diagnosed some of Abbott's difficulties in the early innings and helped settle him down. I’m wondering how effective Stephenson is as a catcher. You hear the repertier between Greene and Casali. And Maile talking mechanics. I don't really hear that about Stephenson.

Nice game!! Starter, bull pen and a couple of long balls. Let's take 2 of 3 from the dreaded Dodgers.

With Fraley having sinus issues , Senzel scratched with a knee issue, India removed from game with a tight Back, Friedl and Ramos already out there has to be some roster moves prior to the game.

One would think so. Recall that Senzel was also a late scratch because of his knee one game of the Boston Series. Two games a week apart is not an encouraging sign. It sounds like something they are trying to work through; but, with 100 games to go in the season and a month to even the All Star break, Senzel may be lucky to make it through without an IL stint.

CBS has their top20 deadline trade targets and Senzel checks in at #19 because of his hitting against lefties and not much availability for guys who play 3b with positional versatility. They listed the Dodgers/yankees/astros as teams possibly interested. If he stays healthy another month, he could bring back a solid AA reliever and get the Reds out of his arbitration # in 2024 with plenty of depth from the young infield talent

I was at the game yesterday. Abbott looked very poised for a rookie.

Abbot has that competitive spirit we need. i think he hates losing more than he likes winning and good teams need that type of guy

It's easy to forget about Justin Dunn too, but he had an electric arm in Seattle. Less then 100 ip total, but they hit .189 off him in 2020 and .201 in 2021.

Yep.

I do hope India is oK. The Reds just can not catch a break.

Nick Krall has said the Reds will be a much younger by the end of the season. Although, I don't like Newman leading off, he doesn't bother me a great deal. He will likely be gone in two months.

Newman doesn't bother me because of his approach at the plate. The youngsters on this team should be watching how selective he is and how he battles. He has survived in the league and sometimes that is good good example to set for young players. Also this team is about building not contending.

Breaking on Twitter right now that EDLC has been called up. Senzel to 10 day IL for knee

Can't wait to see EDLC in a game. The lineup just got SOOO much better.

D-Day.

@jim Looks like my hunch was right . Hope he gets off to the start McClain has.

Official Reds site has the announcement. No other details yet.

https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/elly-de-la-cruz-called-up?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Cruz as in De La Cruz is up. 🙂

Would love for them to send Senzel to the IL (this is his second scratch in a week) and bring up a tall shortstop who I hear is pretty good.

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