The Astros are set to welcome first baseman Jose Abreu back into the fold in the coming days, as Abreu himself told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) earlier today that he’s set to fly to Seattle tomorrow ahead of the club to meet them for the club’s three-game set against the Mariners, which is set to begin on Monday. Abreu had previously been expected to join Houston in Oakland for a three game set against the A’s, but the club instead decided to get the veteran a few extra games in the minors.
Abreu, 37, struggled through a down season at the plate last year in his first season with the Astros but began to heat up somewhat late in the season, providing optimism for his second year with the club. Unfortunately, the hot stretch didn’t carry over and the veteran posted a disastrous .099/.156/.113 slash line in 22 games before agreeing to be optioned to the minors in an attempt to overcome the deep struggles that had been plaguing him. Since then, Abreu has appeared in six games in the minor leagues and slashed a respectable .280/.357/.480 in 28 trips to the plate.
If Abreu can show anything close the offensive performance he offered during his time with the White Sox, for whom he never posted a wRC+ less than 14% better than league average, it would provide a huge boost to an Astros club that has scuffled in the early going and currently sits 3.5 games out of first place in the AL West with a 23-29 record that puts them behind both the Mariners and Rangers. Jon Singleton has performed admirably at first base in Abreu’s absence with a 110 wRC+ in 38 games this year, but that includes a paltry .206/.290/.324 slash line against left-handed pitching this year. Abreu, by contrast, produced well against southpaws even last season, when he hit a decent .235/.296/.444 against them in 179 trips to the plate.
More from around the AL West…
- Sticking with the Astros, right-hander Jose Urquidy suffered a tough setback today after exiting a rehab start due to what manager Joe Espada termed “right forearm discomfort,” as relayed by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Urquidy is undergoing evaluation to determine the severity of the issue, but even a brief setback would be an unfortunate turn of events for Houston. Urquidy had been expected to return to the club at some point within the next week, and in doing so would have offered the Astros some much-needed pitching depth amid deep struggles in the rotation. The club is…
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