Abbott remains in line to start Tuesday's home game against the Mets, even though he appeared out of the bullpen in Sunday's 5-0 win over the Cardinals, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
Even though he was named a starter for the series against the Mets in advance of Sunday's contest, Abbott surprisingly entered the game in the ninth inning with the Cardinals holding a five-run lead. Abbott struck out two over the 21-pitch scoreless inning, which manager Dave Martinez clarified afterward was something that the right-hander asked to do in lieu of throwing a traditional between-starts bullpen session. The impromptu relief appearance shouldn't affect Abbott's workload Tuesday, but the fact that he hasn't pitched more than 4.1 innings in any of his outings for the big club or Triple-A Rochester this season means he likely won't work deep into his upcoming start.