4 Yankees players the fans have already lost patience with

Albert Abreu

If this isn't the end of the road for Albert Abreu, it has to be coming around the bend (even after his outing against the Blue Jays on Thursday night).

The "beneficiary" of Ian Hamilton's injury (congrats, man!), Abreu should survive a little longer as the bullpen gets one man thinner. That doesn't mean he's any form of trustworthy.

After pitching surprisingly well to begin the 2023 season (common Cashman success, 0.00 ERA through eight innings), the wheels fell off, as everyone knew they would. He leaked a bit in two innings against the Blue Jays before officially bursting at the seams in allowing six earned runs in one inning against the Texas Rangers.

Now, more often than not, he's back to being the textbook definition of a mop-up artist, despite sporting a 99 MPH fastball that should be good for far more than it is. There's no reason Abreu should have the WHIP of a soft-tosser like Ryan Weber who pitches to contact, but he certainly does (1.55, which is certifiably insane, and was only lowered from 1.65 due to two surprisingly good outings in Toronto and Cincinnati).

Sometimes, when teams like the Kansas City Royals let talent walk out the door with a fastball this electric, "smarter" teams like the Yankees celebrate early. "We did it!" they yell. "We outsmarted them! We got an arm we're familiar with back in the system for free! They had no idea what they were doing with him!" And, yes, occasionally, bottom-feeder teams don't have the same level of developmental patience or know-how as the league's best talent spotters.

Sometimes, though, it just means that teams like the Kansas City Royals realized early on that something's missing from Abreu's arsenal, and that no amount of tinkering would make him part of their future. This certainly seems like one of those instances.