No. 56

Juan Abreu made his big league debut with Houston on Monday night, becoming the 56th Mississippi Braves alumnus to advance to The Show in the seven years the Double-A club has been in Pearl. Abreu, part of the Michael Bourn trade, pitched 2/3 of an inning in a 7-4 win over Pittsburgh. The right-handed Dominican allowed a hit, a walk and a run but punched out two Pirates while hitting 98 mph on the radar gun. Astros manager Brad Mills called him a “fun weapon” to have in the bullpen. Abreu was the M-Braves’ closer for part of 2010, recording 11 saves and a 3.02 ERA in 39 games. He fanned 47 in 44 2/3 innings. Abreu becomes the eighth M-Braves alum to make it to the majors in 2011, following Tim Collins (Royals), Matt Young, Cory Gearrin, Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, Scott Diamond (Twins) and Arodys Vizcaino.