Andrew Abbott was an incredibly deserving All-Star this summer, but ever since the break he’d been more ‘good’ than ‘excellent.’
In 9 GS dating back to July 20th, he’d fired 52.1 IP and allowed 25 ER – good for a 4.30 ERA (albeit with a 3.87 FIP). It was enough to make us worry that the late-season slides he’d experienced in each of his first two seasons were something of a pattern, especially when last season’s fatigue eventually materialized as a pretty serious shoulder problem.
In a huge spot in San Diego on Wednesday night, however, Abbott reminded us all that there’s a whole helluva lot more life in that left arm than we’d been crediting him with.
Abbott scattered 5 hits across 8.0 brilliant innings, limiting the Cincinnati Reds NL Wild Card rival Padres to just a lone run across 102 pitches. He paired with Tony Santillan to keep San Diego’s offense off the board and allow Cincinnati’s meager 2-run offense to prevail, something that’s happened only 6 times in the 47 games in which they’ve scored that little (or fewer) in a game this season.
As the dominoes fell on Wednesday, the Reds picked up some serious benefit. Both the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants lost on the day, meaning the Reds inched up to just 2.0 games back of New York for the final NL Wild Card spot – tied with San Francisco in the standings.
The Mets are in the midst of a 5-game slide that began in Great American Ball Park, with the Philadelphia Phillies doing their part to mash their NL East rivals (and will try to sweep them entirely this evening). The Mets then play host to the Texas Rangers before welcoming the same Padres to town. San Francisco, meanwhile, plays the Los Angeles Dodgers in 7 of their next 10 games, 4 of which come as part of a 7-game road trip that also will take them to Arizona.
Keep in mind that the Giants finish their regular season with a 3-game series against the moribund Colorado Rockies, however.
In other (great) news, Chase Burns is set to make his return to the Reds on Friday after Thursday’s off-day, as C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic relayed. He’ll pitch out of the bullpen when he returns, albeit with ‘restrictions’ such as not being a guy who gets up and ready mid-inning when things go sour. Still, his electric arm and presence alone will throw opposing managers into fits when they know he’s available on a given day, and he’s absolutely going to get some big leverage opportunities to finish this 2025 season.
Finally, Will Benson is mostly OK and has avoided a major injury after his scary collision with the RF wall in Petco during the series in San Diego, as The Enquirer relayed.