Who was worse than Rafael Montero this Spring?
The Astros bullpen's back three are supposed to be among the best in baseball—maybe even one of the best ever. Even Lidge, Dotel, Wagner good.
And yes, Spring Training performances have to be taken with a grain of salt. But among the supposedly stellar back three of Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly, and Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu has managed to perform worse than Rafael Montero. And that’s pretty bad.
Of course, Spring Training doesn’t always predict regular season performance. Yet, sometimes it does. With Rafael Montero the only returning middle reliever from the last two years, an Abreu regression to pre-2022 form, combined with the Astros’ lack of starting depth, would seriously jeopardize the Astros’ prospects for 2024.