For Cincinnati Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott, there couldn’t have been much better news on Sunday. Manager Terry Francona informed the 2025 National League All Star that he would get the ball come Opening Day, an honor that will sear him into the history books for all those in Reds Country.
The Reds announced the move on Twitter, with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon later catching up with Abbott for reaction to the honor.
Abbott, who’ll pitch in his age-27 season in 2026, has pitched to a combined 138 ERA+ across 304.1 IP the last two seasons. His 8.9 combined bWAR over those two seasons ranks 8th in all of Major League Baseball behind the likes of only Chris Sale, Garrett Crochet, Hunter Greene, Zack WHeeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Tarik Skubal, and Paul Skenes.
That’s as elite as company comes, and firmly puts him in the conversation as one of the aces of the game. Just last season, his 5.6 bWAR ranked 6th in all of baseball.
The only cold comfort here is that it all but confirms that fellow ace Greene won’t be ready for Opening Day after experiencing enough elbow soreness this past week after his first start of the spring that he went for an MRI for more information. For all of Abbott’s accolades, Greene still sits a bit higher than him in terms of both stuff and seniority, and would have been the obvious choice for Opening Day against the Boston Red Sox were everything 100% hunky dory. Now, we’re stuck waiting until Tuesday’s MRI results are known to see just how long after Opening Day we’ll have to wait to see Cincinnati’s other ace pitch.
Congrats to Andrew on his first OD nod!
