Yankees, Albert Abreu Excited About Reunion

NEW YORK — Albert Abreu was beaming at his locker in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, his first day back in the Bronx since the conclusion of the 2021 season.

The 26-year-old reliever has bounced around quite a bit this year, spending most of spring training with New York before getting traded two times in a span of three months. 

After landing with the Rangers (as part of the Jose Trevino trade), Abreu was shipped from Texas to Kansas City. When the Royals designated him for assignment last week, the Yankees pounced, claiming the right-hander off waivers and bringing him back to New York.

"I’m very fortunate to be back here, to be back home, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be back with this team again," Abreu said through the team's interpreter before Thursday's game against the Astros. "I’m very happy to see where the team is today and I’m extremely excited being part of it."

Abreu had been a part of the Yankees organization since November of 2016 when he was acquired from Houston in the Brian McCann trade. The righty made his MLB debut in 2020, posting a 5.15 ERA over 28 appearances (36.2 innings) in 2021.

If you take a closer look at his numbers from last season, however, his ERA is inflated significantly by a pair of disastrous outings. Abreu gave up 11 of his 21 earned runs in a span of 0.2 innings (against Cleveland in September and on the road in Tampa Bay in July). Sandwiched between those two brutal performances, Abreu pitched to the tune of a 3.00 ERA in 18 games, striking out 22 batters in 21 frames.

That in mind, Yankees manager Aaron Boone is eager to add Abreu back to his bullpen. If they can bring out the version of Abreu that shined in the second half of last season, they'll be adding a boost to the 'pen.

"He's obviously got really good stuff, but if you recall last year down to stretch, we were pitching him in some big-time situations and he was doing the job and got really settled in," Boone said. "I feel like he was playing an important role for us in our bullpen down the stretch. He had a couple of bad outings that kind of wrecked his overall season line, but if you really dig into the outings, and I think those of you that watched us on a daily basis saw how well he was throwing the ball for us and how consistent he was down the stretch."

To get there, Abreu will need to overcome some command issues. In his 11 combined outings with the Rangers and Royals this season, Abreu walked 16 of the 64 batters he faced. That's 11.1 walks per nine innings, more than double the number he posted in that same category last season (4.7).

That certainly casts a shadow on his 3.46 ERA and 12 punch outs in that span.

"The walks, especially this year, kind of creeped up on me," Abreu explained. "I was working on something that I thought was going to improve me as a pitcher, but it ended up maybe putting me in a worse situation."

The right-hander added that he never found a good rhythm mechanically with his two new teams. Fortunately, Boone believes that Abreu's poor command can be fixed.

"We feel like there are some things we've seen there that we can correct and feel like he's a guy that if we can keep him in the strike zone, he's a guy that can get important outs for us," Boone said.

With Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Loáisiga, Domingo Germán and Zack Britton still on the injured list, there's an avenue for Abreu to pitch in a variety of different roles out of the bullpen going forward. If he's used like he was down the stretch a year ago, as Boone alluded to, don't be surprised if Abreu is summoned in high-leverage spots.

MORE:

• MLB Insider Explains Why Aaron Judge Could Leave Yankees, Sign With Red Sox, Mets
• Anthony Rizzo Proving Yankees Made Right Decision By Ignoring Critics
• Yankees' Aroldis Chapman to Begin Rehab Assignment This Weekend

Follow Max Goodman on Twitter (@MaxTGoodman), be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.