This Reds player looks like an All-Star lock but is anyone even paying attention?

It's still a bit early to start talking about the All-Star rosters, but Cincinnati Reds starter Andrew Abbott is certainly deserving of a spot on the NL squad this season. The buzz around the Reds' left-hander, however, has been muted throughout the early-going, and it may result in an All-Star snub.

Most baseball fans would agree that All-Star selections are 75% popularity and 25% production, meaning that a player like Abbott has to work doubly hard in order to be noticed. But a 30.3% strikeout rate and 1.80 ERA should be enough to get the attention of both the fans and pundits.

Among all National League starters with at least 30 innings pitched this season, only New York Mets' right-hander Kodai Senga has a lower ERA (1.43) than Abbott. The Reds' lefty is among the top 10 in K/9, strikeout rate, and batting average against. Abbott ranks among the top 20 in WHIP and HR/9.

Reds LHP Andrew Abbott looks like an All-Star lock but is anyone even paying attention?

When you look at the Reds' roster, names like Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Elly De La Cruz bubble up to the surface as potential All-Stars. Both Greene and De La Cruz have an All-Star appearance under their belt already, and Lodolo is a former first-round pick whose stardom has only been lessen due to injury.

Abbott, however, was a second-round pick who gets by on grit, determination, and hard work. The southpaw doesn't possess an elite fastball, and though he has an array of pitches at his disposal, there's not one specific offering that you can look at and say, "That's his out-pitch." Abbott, instead, mixes speeds, works all four quadrants of the strike zone, limits hard-contact, and keeps hitters off balance with his deceptive invisi-ball. In other words, Abbott is a true pitcher, not a thrower.

But in today's game, velocity wins (almost) every time — at least in the eyes of the talent evaluators, fans, and more importantly for this conversation, the All-Star voters. If Abbott hopes to make the trip to Atlanta for the Midsummer Classic, it's going to require more of the same over the next couple of months, and in the end that might not even be enough.

Abbott began the 2025 season on the IL due to a shoulder ailment, so his lack of innings has surely taken away some of his shine. Once the calendar flips to June, however, if Abbott's stats are still reflective of the pitcher fans have seen through his first seven starts, he belongs in the All-Star conversation.

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