Bryan

Abreu

Abreu was given three days off to take care of a personal matter. The right-hander will be a bridge to closer Josh Hader, but he has not been effective whatsoever in 2026 as seen in a 6.39 ERA and 1.82 WHIP over his 25 1/3 innings.

Abreu lost any semblance of fantasy value once closer Josh Hader returned from the injured list a couple weeks ago. The 29-year-old has struggled to a career-worst 6.39 ERA, 1.82 WHIP and 33/24 K/BB ratio across 25 1/3 innings this season. It’s unclear when he’ll return at this juncture given his rather nebulous placement on the restricted list with Astros manager Joe Espada telling reporters they’re giving Abreu some time off to take care of a personal matter.

Josh Hader pitchd both Wednesday and Friday, so the Astros weren’t willing to go to him again tonight. That made Abreu the closer, and he worked around a Bobby Witt Jr. double for the save. Hader should get the ninth if there’s a save situation on Sunday.

This likely would have been a blown save, but the antsy Angels just couldn’t resist sending automatic runner Mike Trout home on Jose Siri’s single to open the bottom of the 10th. Trout was thrown out, and Abreu then struck out Jo Adell before Denzer Guzman’s liner to center, which surely would have been a sac fly with one out, was caught to end the game. It’s Abreu’s fourth save, but he isn’t in line for many more with Josh Hader back.

Bryan King started the ninth inning after throwing nine pitches in the eighth. He retired the first two batters of the final frame before allowing a single to Orlando Arcia that forced him out of the game. Abreu came in and promptly hit Luke Keaschall and then threw a wild pitch to get runners on second and third. However, he responded by getting Byron Buxton to foul out to third base to end the game and secure his third save of the season. It hasn’t been easy, but Abreu is pitching better of late and is clearly back in the saves mix until Josh Hader returns in a few weeks.

It took both Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan King to get though the seventh tonight. AJ Blubaugh opened the eighth with two consecutive outs, but he then walked two in a row to get Abreu into the game. Abreu got Justin Foscue to fly out to end the rally and then worked a scoreless ninth while giving up a walk and a single. In all, three of the four outs Abreu recorded came on hard-hit balls. He might earn another save or two before Josh Hader returns, but he hardly seems worth picking up in mixed leagues at this point.

Abreu entered the day with a 12.54 ERA, and his velocity in this one was about as bad as it’s been this season; he averaged 93.5 mph with this fastball, 1.6 mph off his season average and 3.8 mph less than his 2025 average. Still, he was more than a match for the punchless Red Sox. The one hit he gave up was an infield single that was originally ruled a double-error on Abreu; he failed to pick up Willson Contreras’s dribbler on the first try and then threw the ball past the first baseman to allow Contreras to take second. No matter, though, since Roman Anthony had a horrendous at-bat afterwards. The Astros still shouldn’t have much faith at all in Abreu. He only pitched in the tight situation today because everyone else was tired.

Bryan Abreu probably could have handled this one just fine, but he was instead utilized in getting four outs in the seventh and eighth. De Los Santos then retired Brett Sullivan, Edouard Julien and Brenton Doyle with a two-run lead in the ninth. With Josh Hader hopefully three weeks or so away, none of the Astros’ ninth-inning alternatives seem worth rostering in shallow leagues at this point.

Bryan King had come into the game with two runners on and one out in the eighth inning. He allowed a run in on a hit before getting out of the jam with a one-run lead. King was given the opportunity to close out the ninth, but gave up two hits with two outs before he was pulled at 28 pitches. De Los Santos came in for the final out to record the save. Bryan Abreu had pitched in two of the last three days, totaling 50 pitches. He’ll likely get lower leverage work until he shows improvement. King is still the best bet for save chances at the moment, at least until either Abreu gets right or Hader returns from the injured list.

Abreu came in to pitch in the eighth inning in a game that the Astros were trailing 6-1, so this was the definition of a “get right” appearance. He did allow a hit and a walk, but any success is worth noting when you enter a game with a 20.25 ERA. Abreu has now worked in back-to-back games, so there’s a good chance he won’t be asked to work Monday if there’s a save situation.