Astros option ex-MVP Abreu to minor leagues
The Astros are optioning José Abreu to their spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., an unusual move hoping that the struggling first baseman can salvage his awful start to the season, general manager Dana Brown said Tuesday.
Abreu will be optioned to the minors on Wednesday, Brown said. Abreu, who achieved 10 years of major league service time last season, had to agree to the option. Brown said there is no time limit or timeline for how long Abreu will remain at the minor league facility.
In an impromptu press conference, Brown said Abreu and the team met to discuss “what we could do to get José Abreu back to what he was doing last year, sort of like September, October in the postseason,” and agreed on the move hoping “to get him some atbats and to get his rhythm and timing back right.”
Abreu, 37, was batting .099 with a .269 OPS in 77 plate appearances in 22 games. He is in the second season of a three-year, $58.5 million contract signed with Houston before the 2023 season, in which Abreu posted a careerlow .237 average and .680 OPS.
Houston also called up prospect Joey Loperfidoa and placed infielder Grae Kessinger on the 10-day injured list with “right shoulder discomfort” in a corresponding active roster move before Tuesday's series opener against the Guardians.
Flaherty strikes out first seven batters
Detroit Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty tied an American League record with seven straight strikeouts to open a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
Flaherty matched the record set by Joe Cowley of the 1986 Chicago White Sox and matched by Carlos Rodón of the 2016 White Sox, Tampa Bay's Blake Snell in 2018 and Seattle's Luis Castillo two years ago.
Miami Marlins right-hander Pablo López set the major league record by striking out the first nine batters of a game in 2021.
Flaherty, facing one of his former teams, struck out the side over the first two innings and had one more strikeout to start the third inning with a mix of fourseam fastballs and knucklecurveballs that kept the Cardinals flailing at pitches. He finished with 14 strikeouts in 6 2⁄3 innings and left with a one-run lead. But St. Louis rallied with two runs in the ninth inning for a 2-1 victory.