Every final loss in the postseason comes with a clubhouse full of handshakes and hugs. There’s whispers of offseason plans and talks of reconvening in Florida for spring training in four months or so. As one of the only prominent free agents on the Houston Astros roster, Bryan Abreu had a different experience after the Chicago White Sox beat his team 7-3 in Game 2 to complete the wild-card series sweep the Astros on Wednesday.
It was a time of reflection on the parts of eight big-league seasons he’s pitched for the Astros, including being a key bullpen piece for five different playoff runs, as he enters free agency for the first time and the uncertainty of whether he’ll be back with the team that signed him as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic 13 years ago.
“I’ll always be grateful to them for all the chances and opportunities they’ve given to me,” Abreu said. “I was able to grow as a person and a player and as a teammate, so I’m really grateful for this organization.”
In what could have been Abreu’s final outing in an Astros’ uniform, he got tagged for a big home run in a key situation. After the Astros had climbed back into Game 2, cutting the White Sox’s four-run first-inning lead to 4-3, Abreu entered in the sixth inning with runners on first and second and nobody out.
White Sox manager Will Venable pulled a shrewd move by having Chase Meidroth, the first batter Abreu faced, square around to bunt, drawing the infield in, only for Meidroth to pull his bat back and Chicago execute a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. From there, Meidroth turned hero. The second baseman, who was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against Abreu during the regular season, worked a 3-1 count before Abreu chose to throw him one of his best pitches. However, the usually nasty slider, hung up over the middle of the plate and Meidroth mashed it over the visitors bullpen at Daikin Park to give his team an insurmountable 7-3 edge.
“I was looking for something middle up,” Meidroth said. “He’s had my number all year, really good fastball, so I got something middle up and I was able to cash in for the team.”
Over the past two seasons, Abreu has thrown his slider 1,062 times and given up just seven home runs with opponents hitting .206 against one of his favorite pitches. This one wasn’t his best, though.
“Probably the only thing I can say is I just missed the location,” he said. “But, I got beat with one of my best pitches, my slider, so I have to give him some credit as well.”
In his three years as manager, Joe Espada frequently turned to Abreu to get his team out of jams, and that’s what he was thinking when he turned to him again in such a key moment in Game 2.
“It looked like that slider stayed kind of in the middle of the plate,” Espada said. “But with the game on the line, that’s the guy you want out there. He’s been remarkable.”
Working mostly as a setup man in front of Ryan Pressly and then Josh Hader, Abreu’s 383 career relief appearances ranks third in franchise history behind only Dave Smith (562) and Billy Wagner (464). Barring a rough 2021, Abreu was good ever since he was first called up in 2019, but he’ll best be remembered for his performance in the 2022 postseason. As the Astros rode a dominant bullpen to their second World Series title, Abreu made four scoreless appearances, giving up just one hit and striking out nine, in five winnings against the Phillies. He also combined with Cristian Javier, Rafael Montero and Pressly for the combined no-hitter in Game 5 of that World Series. He pitched in 10 of the Astros’ 13 playoff games that year, throwing 11 ⅓ shutout innings and striking out 19.
“He’s gotten big outs for so many years, playoffs, World Series. Incredible,” Espada said. “I know he’s going into his free agent year and he’s one of those guys that you want to have in your ‘pen.”
Even with free agency brought up to him not even an hour after the last out of the Astros’ season had been recorded, Abreu said that wasn’t something he ever thought about on the mound.
“I always think, ‘Go out there and give everything for the team. Go out there and compete, try to help, enjoy the moment,'” he said. “I never thought about that this could be this last one.”
And it may not be. The Astros face an uncertain future as they enter the offseason without a general manager, but the 29-year-old says he’s definitely open to signing a new contract with the only team he’s known since he was a teenager.
“Of course, why not?” Abreu said. “We always have the doors open. We have a lot of friends, teammates, family. I’ve spent my whole career with this team.”
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This article originally published at Bryan Abreu explains wild-card homer he allowed, reflects on Astros career as he enters free agency.
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