Bryan Enrique Abreu (born April 22, 1997) is a Dominican professional baseballpitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Abreu signed with the Astros as an international free agent in 2013, and made his major league debut in 2019.
Early life
Bryan Abreu was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. At age 13, he worked in construction and assisted an uncle, a mechanic, in repairing cars. Tall and notably athletic, the first sport Abreu began playing was basketball, and when he was 14, began playing baseball. It was at age 14 that his mother suggested that he choose a sport on which to focus, and Abreu chose baseball.[1]
Starting in 2014 and throughout his professional baseball career in the Houston Astros organization, Abreu has worked extensively with pitching coach Erick Abreu, who has also served in various levels within the Astros' minor league system.[1]
Bryan Abreu returned to the Dominican Summer League Astros in 2015, earning a 2–2 record and a 3.83 earned run average over 14 games (ten starts). In 2016, he began the year with the Greeneville Astros before being reassigned to the Gulf Coast League Astros. Over 38+2⁄3 innings, he went 2–5 with a 4.89 earned run average.
In 2017, Abreu returned to Greeneville and compiled a 1–3 record with a 7.98 earned run average in eight games (six starts),[3] and in 2018, he pitched for both the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Quad Cities River Bandits, going 6–1 with a 1.49 earned run average over 14 games (seven starts).[4] The Astros added Abreu to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season.[5]
On July 31, 2019, the Astros promoted Abreu to the major leagues.[7] He made his major league debut that night, pitching a scoreless inning in relief.[8] The following day, he was optioned back to Double-A Corpus Christi.[9] In 2020, Abreu struggled with accuracy, walking seven batters and hitting two in 3+1⁄3 innings before being optioned off the roster.[10]
Abreu closed out the last three outs on July 23, 2022, in a 3–1 win versus the Seattle Mariners for his first save on the season.[11]
He authored a breakout season in 2022, appearing in career-high 55 games, and produced a 1.94 earned run average, 4–0 won-loss record, two saves, 2.12 fielding independent pitching (FIP) and 88 strikeouts,[12] leading the Astros with 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9).[13]
On September 18, 2024, Abreu logged his 100th strikeout, a second consecutive season with the total. He joined Octavio Dotel (2001–02) and Brad Lidge (2004–06) as the only relievers to achieve the feat as members of the Astros.[18] Abreu led MLB in holds with 38,[19] and was second in the American League (AL) in pitching appearances with 78, a career high. He was 3–3 with a 3.10 ERA, 78+1⁄3 innings, 32 BB, 103 SO, and 1.162 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). In the AL Wild Card Series (WCS), Abreu made one appearance, posting 1+1⁄3 scoreless inning while striking out 2 versus the Detroit Tigers, who eventually swept the best-of-3 series.[12]
^Schwab, Michael [@michaelschwab13] (September 18, 2024). "Bryan Abreu has posted a 3.18 ERA with 100 strikeouts this season" (Tweet). Houston. Retrieved September 19, 2024 – via Twitter. Became the third reliever in Astros history to log 100+ strikeouts in back-to-back seasons, joining RHP Octavio Dotel (2001-02) and RHP Brad Lidge (2004-06), per the Astros
