Jose Abreu

[Dick Allen]

Whether is was an adjustment, being able to see his son, whatever, it is nice to know Abreu can still hit really well.

[shipps]

Whether is was an adjustment, being able to see his son, whatever, it is nice to know Abreu can still hit really well.

 

I am happy to see his resurgence as well as Rodon and Anderson's development. There are actually some things that hare happening out there right now that I am happy to see and look forward to for next year.

[ChiSox59]

Don't look now, "HeGone7".

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

On a more serious note though...

 

in August, Abreu has gone from a .738 OPS to .796 now. He is back to an OPS+ of 117 after 134 last year. His OBP is now only .006 under last year.

Yea, the back of baseball card numbers may very well end up in line with his 2015 numbers minus a few homers and RBI if he keeps up anywhere near this recent torrid pace over the next 6 weeks. Wouldn't be shocked to see his OPS end up in the mid-800 range again.

[southsider2k5]

Completely disagree here. If Abreu were his typical self, the Sox would be .500 or better IMO. So many games when he just didn't do anything when they needed more. This version of Jose, Morneau in the lineup all season, and Ajax healthy, this team would be right around where most thought they'd be, which is a few games over .500.

 

Yeah, considering we are only 4 games under .500 with a pretty substandard Abreu for over half of the season, I think it is fair to say there are at least 2 more games he would have won us, which would put us back to .500 already (2 more wins, 2 less losses). I think a pretty convincing case could be made that that number could be more like 4-5 games if he had played at All-Star level Abreu.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

The Rodominator has been pretty studly lately. It's nice to see, especially after he struggled early on.

[Y2Jimmy0]

Yeah, considering we are only 4 games under .500 with a pretty substandard Abreu for over half of the season, I think it is fair to say there are at least 2 more games he would have won us, which would put us back to .500 already (2 more wins, 2 less losses). I think a pretty convincing case could be made that that number could be more like 4-5 games if he had played at All-Star level Abreu.

 

 

Exactly. 5 extra wins puts them at 65-59.

[ChiSox59]

Exactly. 5 extra wins puts them at 65-59.

 

And very much still alive. Its frustrating, because it is so easy to identify 5 games (plus) the Sox should have won this year.

 

But, that's baseball.

[shysocks]

And very much still alive. Its frustrating, because it is so easy to identify 5 games (plus) the Sox should have won this year.

 

But, that's baseball.

Yup. You can probably pick out some games we should've lost too.

 

Worth noting in all this "we could be right there" talk is that BaseRuns has us at 10 games under .500. But we've also had unusually bad injury luck. But we also haven't been a deep enough team to handle injuries in quite some time. Ultimately I think we're right where we deserve to be.

[southsider2k5]

Exactly. 5 extra wins puts them at 65-59.

 

Second wild card is at 69-56.

[Greg Hibbard]

You know what would be pretty cool at this point?

 

If everyone who said Abreu was "finished" and that MLB pitching had "figured him out" owned up and said they were wrong

 

not that it will happen that way

[Jose Abreu]

You know what would be pretty cool at this point?

 

If everyone who said Abreu was "finished" and that MLB pitching had "figured him out" owned up and said they were wrong

 

not that it will happen that way

Lmao, that was basically all the ron accounts. Like, 3 different accounts which start out with "ron" started 6-8 anti-Abreu threads, including this one

[bmags]

Second wild card is at 69-56.

 

Have to think we have underestimated how much getting so little out of the DH spot has killed this team last 2 years. Morneau is in and all the sudden its "oh this is passable".

 

But on a team already struggling to get offense out of their top positions, you can't also have DH be in your bottom 3 of offensive outputs.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

Have to think we have underestimated how much getting so little out of the DH spot has killed this team last 2 years. Morneau is in and all the sudden its "oh this is passable".

 

But on a team already struggling to get offense out of their top positions, you can't also have DH be in your bottom 3 of offensive outputs.

Good point and a reason why a free agent like Mitch Moreland makes a lot of sense for the Sox on a 2 or 3 year deal this offseason. He could split time with Abreu at 1b and DH. Provides a lefty bat with decent power and passable defense at 1b while not breaking the bank.

[Lip Man 1]

According to the Sun-Times today Robin said Jose has been dealing with a hamstring issue. The story didn't quote Robin as saying how long that has been an issue but Jose has appeared to be having trouble running most of the season.

 

Mark

[Soxfest]

Needed Abreu to hit earlier in year, hopefully it carries over to 2017. Way too late for 2016.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Soxfest

[jenksycat]

You know what would be pretty cool at this point?

 

If everyone who said Abreu was "finished" and that MLB pitching had "figured him out" owned up and said they were wrong

 

not that it will happen that way

 

I wouldn't say "finished" but this team was based around him being an "elite" bat, not just a pretty good/solid bat.

 

I still don't think we'll see him get back to the level he was at as a rookie.

[Dick Allen]

According to the Sun-Times today Robin said Jose has been dealing with a hamstring issue. The story didn't quote Robin as saying how long that has been an issue but Jose has appeared to be having trouble running most of the season.

 

Mark

On Sunday you could really see it when Morneau doubled. It didn't stop the mouth breathers around me screaming at him for jaking it. You could tell he was limping. Hit homers, it's easier on your legs.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

If Abreu rakes through the end of the season, I wouldn't mind trading him in the offseason for a boatload of young studs.

 

Abreu won't age well with his body structure, IMO.

[Dick Allen]

If Abreu rakes through the end of the season, I wouldn't mind trading him in the offseason for a boatload of young studs.

 

Abreu won't age well with his body structure, IMO.

He appears a lot smaller than when he first hit the scene. He isn't bigger than Frank Thomas or Jim Thome and they aged OK. At the very least, maybe it will encourage the Sox to take away his glove.

[Soxfest]

He appears a lot smaller than when he first hit the scene. He isn't bigger than Frank Thomas or Jim Thome and they aged OK. At the very least, maybe it will encourage the Sox to take away his glove.

He needs to DH his defense has been horrid this year.

[shipps]

There are no FA's out there that you would want to sign and come in and play first base next year. Unless you bring in someone via trade Jose will be out there again next year too.

[lasttriptotulsa]

If Abreu rakes through the end of the season, I wouldn't mind trading him in the offseason for a boatload of young studs.

 

Abreu won't age well with his body structure, IMO.

 

He's 29 years old. I think he'll be able to handle playing 1B/DH until his contract is up at 32.

[Greg Hibbard]

I wouldn't say "finished" but this team was based around him being an "elite" bat, not just a pretty good/solid bat.

 

I still don't think we'll see him get back to the level he was at as a rookie.

 

Who knows? He's maybe having his best month ever....right now.

 

But to your point....what's exactly the line of thinking, here?

 

That we built this entire team around the expectation that Jose Abreu would be able to automatically duplicate one rookie season's worth of elite numbers?

 

That Jose Abreu would absolutely clobber everything at that same .317/40 homer clip, and that he's somehow a "disappointment" for not doing so?

 

That he f***ed the Sox because the front office built the whole team around that ridiculous expectation?

 

Did this fanbase and front office learn absolutely nothing from Gordon Beckham and his rookie year/subsequent years? Or any other player with standard dropoff type things?

 

I mean...does this front office know anything about the game of baseball, in general?

[The Mighty Mite]

The Sox would most likely not be very much better even with Abreu hitting better. Without a consistent 3,4,5 in the rotation and injuries to the pen the Sox have done OK to hang around .500. With Rodon pitching much better now and Jose hitting better and with Morneau the offense is now better and so is 3/5 of the starters but the bullpen is still a mess. A messy bullpen can undo quality starts and better hitting in a hurry.

 

The Sox have played more 1 run and 2 run games than any team in MLB, the Abreu we saw in 14 and 15 could have made us a WC contender, it might have had a snowball effect on the other hitters in the lineup, as they say "hitting is contagious".

Edited August 24, 2016 by The Mighty Mite