
Albert Abreu Named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week
July 5, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa - River Bandits starting pitcher and Houston Astros prospect Albert Abreu has been named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 27 through July 3. Abreu book-ended the week with two scoreless outings, tossing a combined 13 scoreless innings in two starts and picking up a win. He allowed just nine base runners, five hits and four walks, while striking out 11 combined hitters. Abreu is the second River Bandit to earn a weekly league award and is the second Bandits pitcher in the last three weeks to earn the honor. Jose Hernandez earned Player of the Week June 12 through June 19.
In his first start of the week, Abreu tossed five scoreless innings on June 27 against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The 20-year-old struck out six and surrendered three hits and a pair of walks. He left with a 3-0 lead and got his first home win of the season after the Bandits held on for a 5-4 final. In his follow-up outing, Abreu raised the stakes. He went eight scoreless innings and struck out five Kane County Cougars on July 3 while allowing just two hits and two walks. The River Bandits got him a lead with a run in the top of the eighth inning, but a two-run ninth for the Cougars off the River Bandits bullpen cost Abreu a chance for back-to-back wins.
"It's great to see Abreu perform the way he has," says River Bandits pitching coach Chris Holt. "But, more importantly, it's great to see the carry-over from the focus he put into his work between outings."
The No. 10 prospect in the Astros organization got off to a slow start in his first full season of pro baseball. After his eleventh appearance of the year, a start against the Beloit Snappers on June 7, Abreu had just a 1-6 record with a 6.47 ERA. But in his last four outings, Abreu has gone a total of 24 innings, allowing one earned run on nine hits and striking out 20 batters. His ERA has dropped to 4.20 on the season after his back-to-back shutout performances, capped off with Pitcher of the Week honors.
"His recent success is a credit to his ability to stay focused, repeat his delivery and execute quality pitches both with and without runners on base," says Holt.
Overall in 2016, the 20-year-old Abreu is 2-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 15 games, 11 starts, with 82 strikeouts on the year. Abreu was signed by the Astros out of Guayubin, Dominican Republic on August 5, 2013. Born September 26, 1995, Abreu made his professional debut for the Dominican Summer League Astros in 2014, going 3-2 with a 2.78 ERA in 14 starts before making his state-side debut with rookie-level Greeneville in 2015. He posted a 2-3 record last season with the G-Stros, starting seven of his 13 contests and garnering a 2.51 ERA.
UP NEXT: Register now for the River Bandits Golf Outing on Tuesday, July 19. The annual event will take place at Fyre Lake Golf Club in Sherrad, Illinois. The shotgun-start tournament will also feature a great raffle and registration includes lunch and two drink tickets. RSVP by July 12 to Crystal Bowen by phone at (563) 333-2736 or email crystal@riverbandits.com . Hole sponsorship is still available as well and all proceeds from the event benefit the Bandit Scholars Program, which was founded in 2009 by River Bandits owners Dave Heller and Bob Herrfeldt to annually award three local students with a full-year, cost-of-college scholarship.
Midwest League Stories from July 5, 2016
- Chiefs Take Advantage of Five Errors to Beat Cougara - Peoria Chiefs
- 'Caps Score Nine in Second, Rally for 15-10 Win - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Bases Loaded Walks Helps Bandits to Victory - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Defense Falters as Cougars Drop Contest in Peoria - Kane County Cougars
- Shutout Loss Ends Captains' Streak - Lake County Captains
- Loons Lose Offensive Outbreak in West Michigan - Great Lakes Loons
- Taylor Does It Again As LumberKings One Hit Bees - Clinton LumberKings
- Mujica, Maris Lead Hot Rods to Payback Win - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Mujica, Maris Lead Hot Rods to Payback Win - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Rattlers win 6-2 over Kernel Diplan tosses five scoreless innings - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Lugs Win Eighth Straight Home Game, 7-3 - Lansing Lugnuts
- Timber Rattlers Top Kernels Tuesday - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Peña Powers TinCaps to 3-1 Win Over Cubs - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Lugnuts Score Early, Hold off Dragons 7-3 - Dayton Dragons
- Bees One Hit by LumberKings - Burlington Bees
- Albert Abreu Named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Cougars Ballpark Backdrop Generously Provided by Forest Preserve - Kane County Cougars
- Conner Hale Named Midwest League Player of the Week - Clinton LumberKings
- Hot Rods Lose to Captains on Hidden Ball Trick - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Chiefs Win 7-6 Monday - Peoria Chiefs
- Clinton Records 14th One Run Victory Of The Year - Clinton LumberKings
- 10,639 Watch Lugs Provide Fireworks in 12-5 Rout - Lansing Lugnuts
- TinCaps ReCap: Fort Wayne 6, South Bend 3 (July 4) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Lugnuts Win Slugfest over Dragons on 4th of July - Dayton Dragons
- Wild Fourth Helps 'Caps Win on Fourth - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Cougars Stunned by Chiefs Comeback - Kane County Cougars
- Bees Suffer Independence Day Defeat - Burlington Bees
- Elieser Hernandez Shines on Independence Day - Quad Cities River Bandits
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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