Signed by Houston as a 16-year-old prospect out of Santo Domingo, DR on Nov. 11, 2013...signed by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo, Marc Russo and Rafael Belen...At the age of 13 and prior to his professional signing, worked construction and helped his uncle, a mechanic, fix cars, in Santo Domingo...Grew up playing youth basketball in the Dominican, a sport that was taught to him by his mother and father, who both played basketball as children...by the age of 13, he was competing in Under-17 All-Star teams, facing athletes four years older than him...according to Abreu, he had no issue adjusting and would ¡°dunk and block everybody¡± in those games... Was added to the Astros 40-man roster on Nov. 20, 2018...was eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career this offseason...is still under control by the Astros for another three years.
2023
Recorded the best season of his career...went 3-2 with five saves and a 1.75 ERA (14ER/72IP)...also recorded a 1.04 WHIP, 100 strikeouts, 31 walks and a .177 opponent batting average...Set career highs in innings (72), strikeouts (100), saves (5) and holds (24)...also set career-lows in ERA (1.75), WHIP (1.04), and opponent average (.177)... became the first Astros reliever to record 100 strikeouts in a single season since RHP Josh James (100 SO) in 2019...Among AL relievers, ranked fourth in strikeouts (100), fifth in ERA, tied for fifth in appearances (72), tied for seventh in holds (24) and eighth in SO/9IP ratio (12.50)...made a career-high 72 appearances this season, topping his previous career-high of 55 appearances reached in 2022...Made his third career OPENING DAY roster (2021-23)...also made two appearances for Team Dominican Republic in ¡®23 World Baseball Classic...Won seven consecutive decisions from July 6, 2021-May 29, 2023...his winning streak spanned 88 appearances over parts of three seasons...Finished the season being scoreless in his last 27 appearances (27.2 IP), striking out 33 batters during that span, while going three-for-three in saves and posting eight holds...it was the longest scoreless innings streak by a reliever in the Majors this season...it was the longest scoreless streak in his career, topping his previous career-high of 21.2 innings posted in 2022...per Elias, his streak ties as the longest by an Astros reliever in a single season in club history with RHP Dave Smith in 1987...In the 2023 postseason, he recorded a 4.32 ERA (4ER/8.1IP) with two walks, 14 strikeouts, a .194 opponent batting average and a 0.96 WHIP in nine appearances...recorded five scoreless appearances to begin the postseason, which extended his postseason scoreless innings streak to 17.1 innings, which ranks as the third-longest in club history...Following a hit by pitch of RF Adolis Garcia in Game 5 of the ALCS, received a two-game suspension from Major League Baseball...the suspension will be served at the opening of the 2024 season.
2022
Went 4-0 with two saves and a career-best 1.94 ERA in 60.1 innings...in 55 games, gave up just two homers...recorded eight holds and struck out 13.13 batters per nine innings...Reached career-highs in appearances (55), IP (60.1), wins (4), saves (2), WHIP (1.18 min. 8g), holds (8), ERA (1.94, min. 8g) and strikeouts (88)...finished seventh in ERA among qualified AL relievers...Made his second career Opening Day roster...Had 21.2-inning scoreless streak, spanning 19 appearances, from July 16-Sept. 11...in those 19 appearances: 0.00 ERA, two holds, two saves, 21.2 IP, eight hits allowed, 29 SO, a 0.69 WHIP and a .114 opponent average...In his last 25 regular season games: 0.72 ERA, 36 strikeouts in 25 IP and five holds...Posted an ERA+ of 200 this season, 100 points higher than the average mark...his strikeout percentage of 35.5% ranked in the top 3% of MLB, while his xBA of .196 ranked in the top 10% and xSLG of .274 ranked in the top 3% of baseball...Averaged 97.2 mph on his fastball this season, the highest of his MLB career...topped out at 100.8 mph this season on April 12 at ARI (hardest pitch of MLB career)¡Finished the year ranked seventh in ERA among AL relievers (1.94), tied for fourth among AL relievers in strikeouts (88) and fourth among AL relievers in SO/9 (13.13), which also led the Astros...also ranked tied for seventh among AL relievers in HRs allowed per 9IP (0.30)¡Posted a 0.83 ERA at Minute Maid Park...flourished in day games, tossing a 0.54 ERA across 16.2 IP...was great in one-run games, allowing a .154 opponent batting average and tossing a 1.20 ERA...had high success rate against lefties, allowing them to hit just .189 off him with no homers...Changed his jersey number to #52 on May 24...had worn #66 for the Astros since debuting in the 2019 season...Entered postseason having pitched in one playoff game prior and proceeded to turn in a dominant tournament, allowing no runs over the 11.1 innings and 10 games he pitched in...struck out 19, allowed just four hits...earned five holds as batters hit just .105 (4x38) against him...the Astros went 9-1 in the games he pitched in...Led the postseason in holds with five...also pitched more than any other reliever in the playoffs (11.1 innings) and had an ERA of 0.00....became the 11th reliever in MLB history to throw 11.1 or more scoreless innings in a single postseason.
2021
Made the Astros OPENING DAY roster and pitch primarily with the Major League club for the first four months of the season...ended up having three different Major League stints...Made 31 MLB appearances, going 3-3 with a save and seven holds, while posting a 5.75 ERA (23ER/36IP)...struck out 36 in his 36.0 innings. ..Earned his first MLB win on April 2 at OAK (0ER/2.1IP) and his first MLB save on May 26 vs. LAD (0ER/1IP)...Pitched better than his ERA indicated, as he allowed seven runs in 0.2 of an inning in his final Major League outing...in his first 30 appearances on the season, owned a 4.08 ERA...Pitched most of April and May in the Astros bullpen...sidelined from May 30-July 6 with a left calf strain...returned to the club for July before being optioned for the first time on the season on July 31 following the Astros trade deadline acquisitions...would bounce between Triple A and the Majors for the remainder of the season...Had a great year at Triple A Sugar Land, posting a 1.76 ERA (3ER/15.1IP) with 24 strikeouts in 15.1 innings pitched...also picked up six holds in his 15 appearances...Was on the Astros Taxi Squad for the entirety of the POSTSEASON, but was not elevated to an active roster...Following the season, pitched for the Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League, making seven starts and posting a 1-4 record and a 2.42 ERA (7ER/26IP)...struck out 28 in his 26.0 innings.
2020
Made four appearances over one stint with the Astros, posting a 2.70 ERA (2ER/12IP) with seven walks and three strikeouts...OPENING DAY: Made his first Opening Day roster...Was placed on the Injured List on Sept. 29 for an undisclosed injury.
2019
Had an impressive seven-game showing in his first MLB season...averaged 13.50 strikeouts per nine innings (13SO/8.2IP) and held opponents to a .138 (4x29) batting average...was scoreless in six of seven appearances in the Majors...fanned multiple batters in four of his seven outings...held the opposition to 1x8 (.125) with runners in scoring position...started the season at Class A Advanced Fayetteville... promoted to Double A on April 23...recalled to Houston on July 31...optioned to Corpus Christi on Aug. 1...promoted to Triple A Round Rock on Sept. 4...recalled to Houston on Sept. 7...made his MLB debut on July 31 at CLE, throwing 1.0 scoreless inning...struck out a season-high four batters in 2.0 innings on Sept. 21 vs. LAA...made the Astros ALCS roster, appearing in one game vs. NYY (Game 1)... at 22 years, 173 days old, became the second-youngest pitcher to appear in a postseason game for the Astros, older than only Lance McCullers Jr. (22 yr., 10 days old) in ALDS Game 4 vs. KC in 2015...in 23 combined games (16 starts) between Corpus Christi (20g) and Fayetteville (3g), went 7-2 with a 4.83 ERA (49ER/91.1IP) and 126 strikeouts...was a Texas League Midseason All-Star...received Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors on May 19...had two double-digit strikeout games in the minors...fanned 10 in 4.2 innings pitched on April 15 at Carolina...struck out 10 in 5.2 innings on Aug. 24 at Tulsa.
2018
Was dominant at two levels in the Astros system...combined to go 6-1 with a 1.49 ERA (9ER/54.1IP), 23 walks, 33 hits allowed and 90 strikeouts in 14 games (7 starts) between Class A Quad Cities (10g) and Class A Short Season Tri-City (4g)...began his season at Tri-City before receiving a promotion to Quad Cities on July 10...posted a scoreless innings streak of 16.2 innings pitched from July 3-21, spanning five games between both Quad Cities and Tri-City...on July 5 vs. Vermont, gave up just one hit and struck out nine batters over 4.0 scoreless frames...struck out a career-high 11 batters on July 28 at Cedar Rapids...struck out 10 batters over 6.0 scoreless innings on Aug. 14 at Cedar Rapids.
