Andrew Abbott's All-Star selection 'a bright, shining spot' for Reds

CINCINNATI Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain was confused.

Hed just hit a home run in the first inning of Tuesdays game against the Miami Marlins, and when he got into the dugout, manager Terry Francona called the team together.

I didnt know what was going on, McLain said after the Reds 12-2 loss to the Marlins.

I thought I did something wrong.

Advertisement Reds lefty Andrew Abbott, who will start Wednesdays game against the Marlins, wasnt sure what was going on, either.

Tito brings us in, in like a circle I thought we were going to get yelled at because he was doing his like yelling, but not yelling voice, Abbott said afterward.

He was like, Ill tell you guys one thing you know, with some choice language in there as well but he was like, Andrew Abbott is an All-Star.

Already in a celebratory mood, the Reds dugout erupted in cheers, so much so that the FanDuel Sports cameras switched to the dugout because the celebration could be heard over the 22,399 fans at Tuesdays game.

(I) got showered with ice, bubble gum, everything that guys could get their hands on, Abbott said.

It was fantastic, just being around the guys.

It felt like I was in Triple A getting called up to the big leagues.

So it was definitely a wholesome moment.

Francona said he was alerted to the news that Abbott would replace the Los Angeles Dodgers Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the National League All-Star team just as McLain was rounding the bases on his 10th home run of the season.

On a tough night, that was the one really bright, shining spot for us, Francona said.

Abbott said after his teammates congratulated him, he went into the clubhouse and texted his parents, who were in the stands, that he was headed to next weeks All-Star Game in Atlanta.

He told them not to share the news until 8 p.m., when Major League Baseball was scheduled to announce the news, along with two more replacements.

By the time the news was official, the Reds were back in the dugout after a seven-run third inning by the Marlins off of starter Nick Martinez.

Martinez retired the Marlins in order in four of the six innings he started, with the exception of the third and his final inning, the sixth, when the first three batters of the inning reached and Francona replaced him with Scott Barlow.

All three runners inherited by Barlow scored, giving Martinez 10 on the game and ballooning his ERA from 4.20 to 4.85 but helping the Reds bullpen.

Advertisement By the eighth inning, Francona brought in catcher Jose Trevino to pitch the final two innings.

Trevino, who came in with the bases loaded, allowed only one of those runners to score and gave up another in the ninth.

It was the Reds fourth straight loss and their fourth in five games against the Marlins this season, with two more remaining.

Martinez, though, noted he was excited for Abbott, who will be making his first All-Star appearance.

Very deserving and proud of him, Martinez said.

Hes put in the work this year, and its showing.

...

Honestly, I was shocked he wasnt selected earlier.

After the fan and player voting, Major League Baseball had six slots on the National League roster remaining, with two of the players required to come from the Milwaukee Brewers and Marlins, leaving four spots.

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta and Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers were named their teams representatives.

MLB added Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson, as well as three pitchers Yamamoto, the Chicago Cubs Matthew Boyd, and Robbie Ray of the San Francisco Giants.

All three pitchers initially selected over Abbott had more innings than the Reds third-year lefty.

Abbott said he wasnt really thinking about making the All-Star team until Sunday, when he had hoped to make it but found out he didnt.

I didnt really understand the process or anything that went into it, so I didnt know what to fully expect, so I didnt focus on it fully, Abbott said Tuesday.

But I thought I deserved the first go-round, but you know theres a lot of other deserving guys, so I get the process.

You just had to wait until your names called.

Its kind of like draft day, you just kind of sit there and twiddle your thumbs until your names on the board.

All-Star Abbott Congrats to @andrewabbott33 on being named to his first All-Star Game! pic.twitter.com/mDGxEXMFHN Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 9, 2025 Yamamoto is scheduled to start Sunday for the Dodgers, making him unavailable for Tuesdays game.

San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez was added in place of Atlantas Chris Sale, who is on the injured list with a fractured rib cage.

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero replaced Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, who is on the IL, for the American League.

Advertisement Abbott, 26, is 7-1 with a 2.15 ERA in 15 starts this season.

After starting the season on the injured list with a strain in his left shoulder rotator cuff, Abbott was activated two weeks into the 2025 season.

The lefty won his first two starts, allowing just one run on two hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates and at Baltimore against the Orioles, before giving up four runs in Colorado.

But when the calendar flipped to May, Abbott kicked into another gear.

Over six starts and 32 2/3 innings in the seasons second month, he allowed just two earned runs and struck out 33 while walking 10.

He made five starts in June, allowing just eight earned runs in 32 2/3 innings, with his strikeouts falling to 23 over that span, but issuing just four walks in the month.

Abbott had his worst start of the season Friday in Philadelphia, allowing four runs and not making it out of the fourth inning in a game the Reds would come back to win.

Even so, his ERA rose from 1.79 to 2.15.

With 83 2/3 innings on the season, Abbott isnt qualified for the ERA leaderboard, but of starters with more than 80 innings this season, his mark is the fourth best in baseball, behind only the Houston Astros Hunter Brown (1.82), Pittsburghs Paul Skenes (1.94) and the Detroit Tigers Tarik Skubal (2.05).

All three of those have at least 100 innings this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies Zack Wheeler is just behind Abbott with a 2.17 ERA.

All five of those pitchers, including Abbott, are now All-Stars.

A second-round pick of the Reds in the 2021 draft, Abbott had gone undrafted in the five-round draft in 2020, and despite having interest as a free agent from several teams, including the Reds, he returned to the University of Virginia to pitch his senior year.

After making just three starts over his first three seasons with the Cavaliers, Abbott was 9-6 with a 2.87 ERA in 19 games and 17 starts in his fourth year in Charlottesville, Va.

Abbott pitched just 13 innings between the Arizona Complex League and Class A the year he was drafted before reaching Double A in 2022, as well as making an appearance in the Futures Game in Los Angeles during All-Star weekend.

Abbott, along with McLain, fellow All-Star Elly De La Cruz, third baseman Noelvi Marte and infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand, made his debut for the Reds in their surprising 2023 season.

Abbott found himself an integral part of the rotation right away, going 8-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 21 starts.

Last year, he was 10-10 with a 3.72 ERA in 25 starts, finishing with the second-most starts and innings among Reds pitchers last season to Hunter Greene, who made his first All-Star team as a replacement a year ago.

This year, Abbotts taken it to another level.

Though the lefty doesnt have the stuff of Greene or Chase Burns, he still has plenty of stuff but relies more on his ability to pitch.

According to Baseball Savant, his average fastball of 92.4 mph is in just the 21st percentile of pitchers in the game, but his fastballs run value is in the 89th percentile.

He does that with command and control, limiting hard-hit balls.

His 32.4 percent hard-hit rate is in the 92nd percentile.

Abbotts whiff rate and strikeout rate are about average, but he has an above-average chase rate and walk percentage, limiting damage.

Advertisement All of it has led to an All-Star appearance in Atlanta, where the Virginia native will have plenty of family coming down to watch him.

Even if Abbott wasnt initially an All-Star, he is now, and he has a great story to tell about finding out and the support and congratulations he got from his teammates.

I guess they like me somewhat, Abbot joked.

It doesnt matter who its for, it could be anybody else on that team, and were all going to be super pumped, super proud of them just for the work.

I mean, Elly, right? Were all going to be super proud of Elly just for his work ethic and who he is as a person and a teammate.

So any one of those guys, other than myself, we would have had the same reaction.

...

It means the world to get it from those guys.

(Photo: Phil Didion / USA Today Network via Imagn Images).

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