Andrew

Abbott

Abbott struck out five and walked three while registering 10 whiffs and a 27 percent CSW on the day. The Pirates hit his four-seamer hard, with a 95 mph average exit velocity on the pitch, and Abbott didn’t really throw enough strikes with the curve and changeup to keep the Pirates hitters guessing. He’ll look to bounce back against the Marlins next week.

Abbott gave up two singles in each of the first two innings, but he also generated double-play balls both frames. He ended up striking out four batters, and he retired the final five guys he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. He didn’t surrender anything even close to a homer today after giving up six in 17 2/3 innings this spring. Abbott is slated to take on the Pirates next time out, and he’ll likely face off against a rather ticked off Paul Skenes.

Abbott gave up a two-run homer in the second and then two more runs after being pulled in the fourth, which he would have been out of already if not for a Sal Stewart error. He came back out for the fifth and gave up one more run after a leadoff double, though he retired three straight afterwards. In all, it was a better night than the line suggests. Abbott ends the spring with a 12.74 ERA. He’s not someone we recommend, but that’s because he’s an extreme flyball pitcher with a middling strikeout rate in a tough ballpark for pitchers; it doesn’t have anything to do with the poor spring.

The positive news here is that these games don’t count. Abbott surrendered eight hits, including a two-run homer to journeyman backstop James McCann as part of a tough afternoon in the desert. He’ll take the ball for Cincinnati on Opening Day and remains a top-60 range fantasy starter following last year’s breakthrough campaign.

Abbott served up a homer to Gary Sánchez on a cutter that he’s been working on this spring. He generated six swinging strikes and finished with a respectable 30 percent CSW in his latest spring tune-up, building up his pitch count to 69 (42 strikes) in the process. The 26-year-old southpaw will take the ball on Opening Day for the Reds against the Red Sox at Great American Ball Park on March 26.

Abbott draws the starting assignment when Cincinnati kicks off the regular season on March 26 against the Red Sox at Great American Ball Park. It’s his first career Opening Day nod for the 26-year-old southpaw, who gets the ball in place of injured Reds ace Hunter Greene (elbow). Abbott was a revelation last year, posting a sparkling 2.87 ERA — 3.55 xERA — across 166 1/3 innings over 29 starts. He’s a top-50 range starting pitcher in fantasy drafts this spring.

Abbott gave up flies with projected distances of 454, 448 and 444 feet today, though only one turned into a homer. His spring ERA is sitting at 12.27 after three outings, but that still doesn’t seem like any reason for concern. He should, however, give up more homers this year and prove worse for fantasy purposes.

The last two runs came after he was pulled with two outs in the third. Abbott has an 11.57 ERA after two turns this spring, but no one will care much about that. He seemed like a poor value pick in mixed leagues after a strong 2025 season that wasn’t really backed up by his peripherals regardless of the spring line.

Abbott is one of the more challenging pitchers to forecast since he doesn’t miss a ton of bats and vastly outperformed last year’s 3.55 xERA with a pristine 2.87 ERA across a career-high 166 1/3 innings over 29 starts. The 26-year-old southpaw is a top-50 range fantasy starter heading into 2026, even if there’s some pullback from a run prevention standpoint looming.

Francona added that they’re going to be cautious with Nick Lodolo after he pitched in relief during Sunday’s regular-season finale which is why Littell and Abbott will draw the starting assignments after ace Hunter Greene kicks off the three-game series at Dodger Stadium. The expectation is that Lodolo will be available in relief, if needed, at some point during the series.