Bryan

Abreu

Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly and Abreu all worked the previous two days, but the youngest of the trio was the only one available tonight, apparently. Abreu got the job done and finally picked up his first save in the process. He leads the AL with 38 appearances this season, and his ERA is down to 2.58 after a rough start. Still. because of the lack of saves, he’ll make less than a quarter of what he’s worth in arbitration again next year.

The Astros had to use Hader in three-of-four games against the Yankees over the weekend, and Abreu was used in both Sunday and Monday’s contest. With the two relievers unavailable, it seems likely that Ryan Pressly would get a potential save chance for the Astros should one be presented to the team.

In case fantasy managers forgot, Abreu kicks off the 2024 campaign by serving a league-issued two-game suspension that carries over from last postseason for intentionally throwing at Rangers slugger Adolis García during Game 5 of the ALCS.

Abreu has struggled in two of his six outings this spring, leaving him with an 11.81 ERA. That his velocity is down about two mph probably has something to do with it. Hopefully, he will get that back once the games start to matter. The Astros do have Josh Hader for the ninth and Ryan Pressley for the eighth, but they’re still going to need Abreu, who is about as talented as any reliever in the leagues. They won’t have him for the first two games of the season, though, as he was suspended for throwing at Adolis García in last year’s World Series.

As previously reported, Hader will join an Astros’ bullpen that already features an elite closer in Ryan Pressly and one of the best setup men in the league in Bryan Abreu. Best of luck to opposing hitters after the sixth inning. The presumption is that Hader will function as the team’s primary closer, though expect Pressly to get some chances as well if there are key left-handed hitters due up in the eighth inning instead of the ninth. Hader will once again be one of the first closers off the board in all 2024 fantasy drafts.

The 26-year-old hurler was a force out of the Astros’ bullpen in 2023 — compiling a 1.75 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 100/31 K/BB ratio across 72 innings in his 72 appearances. For that, he earns a nice raise over the $745,200 that he earned in 2023. He’ll never hold much fantasy value with Ryan Pressly entrenched in the closer’s role for the Astros, but he remains one of the better setup men in the business.

It’s actually a bit surprising to see that it wasn’t reduced, but it won’t impact his availability for the postseason — especially Monday’s critical Game 7 against the Rangers. So far during the postseason, the 26-year-old right-hander has registered a 2.45 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a 13/2 K/B ratio across 7 1/3 innings in his eight appearances.

It appears unlikely that Abreu will be available for Game 7, though we’ll see what the decision is. The setup man gave up a run in the eighth during last night’s Game 6.

The league will hold a hearing on the matter within 48 hours, but he is eligible to pitch in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Rangers on Sunday night. If the hearing is held on Monday — and they uphold the suspension or reduce it to one game — he would be unavailable to pitch in Game 7 of the series if there is one.

The problem with that though, is that Garcia clearly wasn’t throwing at him intentionally — given the importance of the situation that they were in. The Astros would have never intentionally put two runners on base in the eighth inning of a game where they trailed by two runs. Sigh. Abreu’s suspension will begin immediately — meaning he would miss the final two games of the ALCS — unless he appeals. It seems extremely likely that the 26-year-old hurler will appeal in this situation.