Andrew Abbott pitched five innings against the Guardians in a win on Friday, allowing four hits and three walks, but just one run.
Buried by most after exiting April with a 5.97 ERA, Abbott has fought hard in his last three outings, allowing just one earned run in the process, to cut his seasonal ERA back to 4.21. Is it still mostly smoke and mirrors? Oh yeah. He struck out just two Guardians today and got a whiff on just three of 35 swings, and his walk rate has spiked to 9.9 percent. Will we recommend him against the Phillies next week? Probably not. But is it fun that he’s back on whatever dark magic it takes for someone with this underlying profile to pitch like this? Undoubtedly.