HOUSTON — Bryan Abreu has been there, be it in a bases-loaded jam on baseball’s biggest stage or staring down an opponent’s best hitter trying to tie the game. Few other members of the Houston Astros’ bullpen boast such extensive high-leverage experience.It is perhaps the only sufficient explanation for Abreu’s continued presence in pivotal moments. Six of his final seven appearances in May came in either a tie game or with the Astros ahead by three runs or fewer.Manager Joe Espada sometimes had no other option — he couldn’t overwork other pitchers and ignore Abreu altogether — but Abreu also authored a run of better results. Before entering the eighth inning of Friday’s game to protect a one-run lead against the Milwaukee Brewers, Abreu had not been scored upon in nine May appearances.Abreu responded by walking the first two Milwaukee Brewers he faced on eight pitches. The first free pass came around to score the tying run in a game Houston lost 5-4. The nine four-seam fastballs Abreu threw averaged 94.2 mph — down from the already-diminished 94.9 mph he’s shown this season.Therein lies the truth about Abreu’s apparent turnaround. He allowed one earned run across nine May innings, but did so with a 4.84 FIP and 1.22 WHIP while throwing 54 percent of his pitches for strikes. Abreu hit or walked 10 of the 39 batters he faced in May. Four others struck hits.Abreu generated just a 21.2 percent chase rate in May — seven percent below his career average — and had a 26.9 percent whiff rate. Even in an awful April, it was 36.5 percent. Of the 22 batted balls Abreu allowed in May, 10 of them were struck 95 mph or harder.Baseball is a results-based business. Bemoaning underlying metrics after a one-run month belies that point. Still, it does prompt wonder whether Abreu’s turnaround is sustainable — and if he is worth throwing into more leverage situations.Closer Josh Hader’s imminent return will lessen the need to force Abreu into any tough spots, but again, Espada can’t rely on his same, small crew of trusted arms for every leverage outing. Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan King and Steven Okert can’t pitch every night.It will force Espada to consider what is more instructive: Abreu’s experience and excellent results or what his eyes see.Kai-Wei Teng’s emergence in the starting rotation, coupled with the continued cratering of Abreu’s arsenal, is creating a need for more right-handed depth in the Astros’ bullpen. Activating Nate Pearson from the injured list and summoning Alimber Santa from Triple-A Sugar Land helped to address it.Might another move still be in the works? Heralded pitching prospect Miguel Ullola threw just 11 pitches in his last outing for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday, peculiar for someone the team has touted as a starter for much of the past three seasons.Ullola had thrown at least 66 pitches in eight of his previous 10 Triple-A outings. One of the two he didn’t? A two-inning, 26-pitch appearance on Tuesday.According to a team source, the change is a byproduct of some internal conversations about Ullola’s immediate future. No call-up is believed to be imminent, but the mere fact that Ullola is receiving shorter outings indicates that — if a promotion does come — it will be out of the bullpen.Ullola, 23, is the only healthy pitcher on Houston’s 40-man roster yet to be deployed in a major-league game this season. The Athletic’s Keith Law tabbed him No. 11 in his preseason ranking of the Astros’ top 20 prospects with an apt description of Ullola’s most glaring issue.“Ullola walked 13.7 percent of batters he faced in Double A in 2024, moved up to Triple A and walked 15.9 percent,” Law wrote. “I don’t mean to reduce a pitcher to a single number like that, but I can’t reconcile that with anything else he does to come up with ‘starter.’”Ullola has already walked 29 batters in his first 38 2/3 innings of this season. His control must improve for him to have any meaningful role on a major-league pitching staff, but team officials believe his arsenal can play up in a relief role. Ullola touched 97.3 mph during his one-inning outing on Saturday and threw all six of his four-seam fastballs harder than 95 mph.Ullola’s move to a relief role will rearrange the team’s starting pitching hierarchy. Triple-A right-hander Ethan Pecko and Double-A righty Bryce Mayer are in position to be the next prospects Houston summons if a need in the rotation arises.Whether one will is a pertinent question. Hunter Brown will make his third minor-league rehab start on Thursday in El Paso with Triple-A Sugar Land. Cristian Javier will make his first for Double-A Corpus Christi on Wednesday. June could feature a return for both right-handers to an Astros rotation that is performing well without them.Speaking about a pitching surplus is dangerous, but Houston is nearing one in its rotation — even more reason to move Ullola into a relief role.Before the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee began its Cinderella run through the NCAA baseball tournament, one of its most famous players filmed a video. AJ Blubaugh wished his beloved Panthers good luck in the Auburn regional — their first tournament appearance in 15 years.Two days later, UWM stunned No. 4 national seed Auburn before beating the University of Central Florida on Saturday, putting the Panthers one win away from a trip to the school’s first-ever super regional. They are already the first team in Horizon League history to win the first two games of a regional and reach a championship game.Before this breakout, UWM had not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1999. The Panthers finished this season with a losing record, but received the Horizon League’s automatic bid after winning the conference tournament over conference power Wright State.Blubaugh is the only UWM pitcher to ever reach the major leagues and played for most of the team’s current coaching staff. Head coach Shaun Wegner attended Blubaugh’s major-league debut at Daikin Park last season. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho is the only other UWM product to ever play in the major leagues.While his alma mater made quick work of UCF on Saturday, Blubaugh had to battle with Milwaukee’s professional team. The wiry right-hander bullied the Brewers across three impressive innings of Houston’s 9-2 win, continuing an impressive rookie season for one of Houston’s biggest homegrown success stories.Blubaugh’s season ERA sits at 4.42, still skewed by a brutal outing at Coors Field on April 8, when he surrendered five earned runs after being thrust into action after Cristian Javier exited with an injury. Since that day, Blubaugh has a 2.54 ERA across his past 28 1/3 innings, a stretch of 18 appearances in which he’s gone multiple innings 10 times.