Prospect Spotlight: Albert Abreu (NYY)

Zach Bland | Charleston RiverDogs












Matt Linder

Originally signed out of Venezuela by the Astros as an 18-year-old in 2014, Abreu was acquired by the Yankees in 2016 in exchange for Brian McCann.  The young righty spent most of an injury-plagued 2018 season in Advanced-A before being promoted to Double-A Trenton for his final start of the year.  Excluding his four rehab starts in Rookie Ball, Abreu threw 67.2 innings with a 3.88 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 69/30.  I saw his final start of the season in Trenton.

The 23-year-old’s compact build and thick lower half leaves minimal room for projection.  Abreu has a quick arm, smooth delivery and short stride toward home plate.  The righty’s plus arm speed helps generate his mid-to-upper 90s fastball velocity.  His heater displayed plus sink, but flattened out when overthrown.  Abreu’s best off-speed pitch is his curveball (82-to-83 mph), which exhibits sharp 11-5 break.  He showed the ability to throw it for a strike and bury it in the dirt for strikeouts.  The 23-year-old’s third offering is a changeup (89-to-91 mph), which I probably saw at it’s best, showing plus fade and he had the confidence to throw it against both lefties and righties.  The offering got swings and misses despite occasional inconsistency with arm speed, which should improve with experience.  His fourth pitch was a slider (85-to-87 mph) which flashed average potential, but lacked reliability.  Lastly, the righty’s command comes and goes and he is prone to overthrowing which is common for young pitcher.  However, his clean delivery lends itself to average command at maturity.

The key to Abreu’s future outlook is staying healthy.  He has all of the tools to be a mid-rotation starter, FV 55.  However, he has yet pitch a full season during his first two years with the Yankees organization.  If he struggles to stay on the field again in 2019, a move to the bullpen is likely. 

If you have any questions, comments or criticisms feel free to reach out to me at mattlinder2@gmail.com

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