Reds send Andrew Abbott to AAA Louisville on rehab assignment

There’s a good chance he’s back in Cincinnati’s rotation by the end of next week!

In a span beginning at the beginning of the 2023 Major League Baseball season and ending on the final day of the 2024 regular season, only 19 pitchers accrued more bWAR than Andrew Abbott’s 6.1.

We can debate the merits of WAR, bWAR, and all advanced metrics until the cows come home – FanGraphs, for instance, valued his efforts at only a combined 3.3 fWAR. Still, by at least one widely regarded source, there have been precious few pitchers in all of baseball who have been as valuable as Abbott, whose 2024 season ended early due to shoulder issues in his left throwing arm.

Said shoulder issues kept him held back during spring camp in Goodyear, AZ all March, and the end result was him being placed on the injured list to begin the 2025 season. Things are still progressing quite well for him, however, and today the Reds sent him to AAA Louisville to begin a rehab assignment.

The Reds announced the move on Twitter on Tuesday morning, though somewhat cryptically did not announce that he’d be getting the start for Triple-A Louisville tonight.

The Bats have ‘TBD’ listed as their starter for tonight’s game against the Omaha Storm Chasers, but all signs point to it being Abbott who’s on the bump for them. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed that Abbott will begin his rehabbin’ tonight with a second (and, if all goes well, final) rehab start on the docket for Sunday.

We’ve not yet seen how Carson Spiers begins this season, as he’s only slated to make his 2025 Reds debut this evening. However, it would certainly seem that Abbott is being lined up to take the place of Spiers in the rotation as soon as he’s ready, which is projected to be by the end of next week.

Adding Abbott back to this starting rotation mix is a boon for the Reds however it shakes out, of course. Fingers crossed that happens as soon as estimated.