Predicting when Andrew Abbott will make his Reds debut

While every Cincinnati Reds fans is itching to see Matt McLain make his major league debut, the organization has another young star down on the farm who's making his case to receive a call-up as well.

Andrew Abbott, who was promoted to Triple-A just last week, had another solid outing for the Louisville Bats on Tuesday. The left-hander got the win while allowing no runs on just two hits and striking out eight.

It's become painfully obvious to anyone who's paying attention that Abbott has leapfrogged over both Brandon Williamson and Levi Stoudt, and should be the next pitching prospect to receive his opportunity in the majors. So when will Abbott get the call?

Predicting when Andrew Abbott will make his Reds debut.

While it would be fun to see Andrew Abbott join the three-headed monster of Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, and Nick Lodolo, after the All-Star break is the absolute earliest Reds fans should expect to see Abbott in the Queen City. More than likely, we're probably talking about a September call-up.

Now, that's not to say Abbott isn't skilled enough to pitch in the bigs right now. If we're basing a call-up to The Show on merit, Abbott is the guy. The southpaw is 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 51 punch outs in 25.2 innings of work between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville.

But sometimes, life's just not fair. While neither Brandon Williamson nor Levi Stoudt deserve the opportunity to become part of the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation before Abbott, their placement on the 40-man roster will certainly work in their favor.

Williamson has had a disastrous start to his 2023 season. The lefty is 1-3 with an ERA of 8.46 and a WHIP of 2.28 in six starts. Stoudt hasn't been much better with his 5.68 ERA and 16 walks in 19 innings pitched. But both players are currently on the 40-man roster, which makes it so much easier to shuttle them back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues.

Andrew Abbott is pitching so well, that he could force the team's hand. But with only two Triple-A starts, the Cincinnati Reds are certainly justified in keeping Abbott down on the farm for a couple more months.

It's only a matter of time before Abbott is given a chance to get his feet wet in the major leagues. Reds Country is likely to see both Williamson and Stoudt receive an audition first, but either pitcher struggles, Abbott is less than two hours away down Interstate-71.