Pablo Abreu

Pablo Miguel Abreu Casañas

• Throws Left

• Born March 23, 1967 in Havana, Havana Cuba

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Pablo Abreu pitched for the Cuban national team. A hard-throwing southpaw, he was timed at 95 mph and also had a strong curveball.

Abreu debuted for the Metropolitanos in the Cuban Serie Nacional in 1983. He played for the Cuban squad that won the 1985 World Junior Championship. He moved from the Metropolitanos to the stronger Industriales for the 1985-1986 Serie Nacional and went 8-3 with a 2.67 ERA and league-leading 97 strikeouts. He was the losing pitcher in the Cuban All-Star Game that season.

Still a teenager, he was with the Cuban national team when they won Gold at both the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games (1-0, 2.16) and 1986 Amateur World Series (3-1, 1.55, 35 K). He was named the All-Star lefty for the 1986 Amateur World Series. He tied Dong-hee Park for the Series lead in wins and may have led in whiffs. He struck out 114 for Habana to lead the Series Selectivas in 1987. He again lost the All-Star Game. He had a 1.08 ERA in the 1987 Pan American Games, going 2-1 with a crucial loss to Team USA (he allowed a two-run homer to Ty Griffin in the bottom of the 9th after hitting Larry Lamphere). Cuba beat the US in the finale, though, to win Gold. He was 2-0 with no earned runs and 22 whiffs in 14 innings as Cuba won the 1987 Intercontinental Cup and threw a no-hitter against Mexico.

Pablo hurt his shoulder at that point and was not as dominant as his first few seasons. He was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (highest on Cuba's excellent staff) in the 1989 Intercontinental Cup, his last international tournament as a player. Back with the Metropolitanos in 1991-1992, he led the western division with 13 starts and was 8-2 with a 2.58 ERA. His career as a player ended in 1996. He was 72-48 with a 3.62 ERA in 169 games (159 starts), allowing 863 hits in 964 2/3 IP. He walked 531 and struck out 822. He also hit well, going 8 for 32 with a double and homer and playing the outfield several times.

He coached for the Industriales from 1997-2001, for the Guatemalan national team from 1998-2001 (presumably including the 1999 Pan American Games, for Nettuno in Serie A1 from 1999-2000, for Reggio Emilia in the Italian minors from 2001-2006, for Parma in the Italian Baseball League in 2007-2008, for Caserta in 2009, for Reggio Emilia again in 2010-2011 and for the Russian national team in the 2014 European Championship.

Sources

• 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol
• Ecured
• Italian Baseball Federation
• 2013 interview with Abreu
• A listing of Abreu's coaching stops