Astros fans likely have some level of familiarity with Bryan Abreu. He has made appearances in each of the last two big league seasons, totaling 12 innings across 11 appearances while accumulating a 1.50 ERA. That’s excellent run avoidance, particularly for a pitcher making his first big league appearances, and Abreu backed it up with 16 strikeouts. Coupled with the fact that his stuff is of an elite quality, the numbers might suggest that he’d be a slam dunk for a big league role entering this season, but until recently, that didn’t appear to be the case.
The reason for the Astros reticence to thrust Abreu into high leverage duty has been a simple, and common one- he hasn’t shown the necessary command and control to consistently succeed at the big league level.