The Cincinnati Reds have been short on starting arms for a while now. Nick Lodolo was moved to the 60-day IL just yesterday, Luis Cessa was jettisoned last month, Chase Anderson was dealt away for cash, and Graham Ashcraft has been bonked around worse than just about any starter in the game over the last month.
Down at AAA Louisville, however, lefty Andrew Abbott had continued to dominate after his absolutely brilliant start to the year with AA Chattanooga. That beginning featured striking out 36 hitters in just 15.2 IP - with just 2 ER allowed in that time - though there was a question whether the higher seams on the balls at that level had been purely behind his success.