The Cincinnati Reds have quickly emerged as one of the most exciting teams in baseball. Shortstop Elly De La Cruz needs no introduction, but the starting rotation is powering a Cincinnati squad with the potential to make a run in the second half.
The steady hands of Nick Martinez and Brady Singer have helped make that possible, but it’s the dynamic nature of this rotation that stands out. Hunter Greene was making a run for the NL Cy Young before he was sidelined with an injury. Nick Lodolo is putting together a quality season, too, and top prospect Chase Burns already has one of the sport’s scariest arsenals.
None of them have pitched quite as well as Andrew Abbott, whose surge toward stardom landed him as a potential All-Star. When the rosters were announced on Sunday, though, he didn’t get the call.
Abbott is first-team all-character
Abbott spoke to reporters on Monday about his approach to the ordeal and what a trip to Atlanta would mean to him.
“It’s not frustration, I mean those guys who got picked deserved it by far,” Abbott said, via Joe Danneman. “I mean, I think I did enough to deserve it, but at the end of the day, I don’t control it, so I don’t really put a lot on it. You think about it in the moment when it’s announced, but like I said, nothing to take away from those guys. I’ve pitched really well, I want to continue pitching well. We’ll just see what happens.”
Abbott has a case to make the All-Star Game. His 2.15 ERA trails only Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes (min. 80 innings) in the National League. At 1.9 fWAR, he ranks 17th, and a handful ahead of him have already sustained injuries, knocking them out of consideration.
However, Abbott is outperforming his peripherals, pitching to a more pedestrian 3.60 FIP and 4.11 xFIP. His 7-1 record stands out, but the sport has evolved past wins and losses. Neither his stuff nor his command stands out as elite.
The result is an (All-Star) replacement-level campaign that requires a bit of good fortune to get late admission to the fun.
“Yeah, I’m always prepared for that to happen,” he said. “I’m in a good spot, talked to Tito [Terry Francona]. I’m pitching in the middle of the week. I don’t have another appearance, so that kind of adds to my availability for it. But yeah, just be ready in case the call does come.”
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He’ll get one more audition on Wednesday against the Miami Marlins. Abbott is set to square off against Sandy Alcantara in the penultimate series before the break.
“It’d be great to represent my family, all the hard work that I’ve done personally, represent Cincinnati, and the team, and all the guys on the team that should’ve gotten votes and gotten consideration themselves,” Abbott said.
To his credit, Abbott is handling his hopes well. He’s been honest, humble, and happy to congratulate others on their success. Perhaps that will come back around and give Cincinnati its second representative to the Midsummer Classic.
“But we do have an All-Star. It is Elly. We’re gonna rally behind him and we’re gonna push him through to the second one and we’re more than proud to be his teammate, to be around him. So it’s exciting still. Like I said, nothing bad comes out of it. Didn’t work out the first time, but there’s still a chance.”
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