Developing that changeup, which has been Abbott’s fourth-best pitch during his young career, helps take his pitching to another level. Thorough his first two starts this year, Abbott has only allowed two runs.
“He has always been able to spin it, but the changeup has become a factor,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “When you have a lefty with a changeup, it just seems to work really well.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Abbott is an old-school pitcher who commands his pitches, can throw any pitch in any count and pitches deep into games. But those categories overshadow an underrated piece of his game.
Even though Abbott isn’t a flamethrower, he’s great at tallying strikeouts. Last Friday, he became the fifth-fastest pitcher in Reds history to 250 strikeouts.
He struck out 11 batters in Baltimore in his most recent start, and the changeup was the key.
“It’s come a long way,” Abbott said. “I talked with Nick Martinez and a bunch of the guys about how to throw it, grips and all of that stuff. It’s finally coming around. It’s not to where I think it can be yet, but it’s gotten a lot more consistent.”
Abbott doesn’t get quite the same hype as Greene and Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo, but Abbott is a critical piece of the team’s young core whose production has fallen under the radar.
In 2023, he carried the Reds’ pitching staff for two months before running out of gas down the stretch. He was the Reds’ most consistent pitcher through July of 2024 before a shoulder injury wore him down.
“We hope to get better so we don’t fall off in August and September continuously,” Abbott said.
Those experiences in 2023 and 2024 shaped his mindset during spring training this season. His shoulder wasn’t quite where he felt it should be, so he went through a more methodical build up progression that went into April. He started the season on the injured list as he finished that progression and missed two starts.
The goal is being able to run through the finish line this season.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“I’ve done a lot of work,” Abbott said. “I commend the strength staff and the training staff for having a really good plan behind what we were going to attack and go after starting in spring training and continuing now to develop that routine to get set on what I need to do day-in and day-out and stick to that as much as possible. That’s going to be a big step to pitching this well now and pitching this well into August and September.”
A healthy Abbott is one of the better young left-handed pitchers in the game. He’s also a very good complement to Greene and Lodolo, who have elite stuff.
“My main job is to focus and throw strikes,” Abbott said. “Once you throw a couple in the zone, they have to respect it and you can get swings on pitches out of the strike zone.”
NEXT GAME
What: Reds at Rockies
When: Friday, April 25, 8:40 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM
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