From Baseball America’s
10 Takeaways from Opening Day:
-> Abbott Thrives in Starting Role
After dominating in a relief role last season, putting up a 1.35 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 13.1 innings, and then somewhat surprisingly going undrafted last summer, fourth-year junior lefthander Andrew Abbott returned to Virginia for the 2021 season and began the process of becoming a starter.
It’s just one game, but so far, the move is going swimmingly. Against Connecticut on Friday, Abbott threw 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in a 2-1 win for the fifth-ranked Cavaliers. The nine strikeouts are a career-high for Abbott, and he ran through the finish line, retiring the final nine batters he faced.
Virginia has a surplus of starting options to choose from. In addition to Abbott, they also bring back righthanders Griff McGarry and Mike Vasil (both of whom are set to take the ball this weekend against the Huskies), and lefthander Nate Savino. That type of rotation depth will always give the coaching staff the latitude to move Abbott back to his relief role if he struggles as the season goes on, but after Friday, it’s hard to feel anything but incredibly optimistic about the lefty as a starting pitcher. <-
