It took facing one of baseball's worst teams in baseball's most explosive run-scoring environment, but José Abreu was able to raise his average above .100 by going 2-for-5 against the Rockies in Mexico City on Saturday.
The next day, he went 0-for-4, and his average dropped back down to .099.
Now, he's dropping down to the minors for the first time in his MLB career.
Abreu agreed to be optioned to the Houston Astros' spring training facility in West Palm Beach in an attempt to get his timing back. With the Astros starting the season 9-19 and with a first base prospect in Joey Loperfido crushing Triple-A pitching, the team had an opportunity to provide the easiest possible entry for a rookie. As much as Loperfido might struggle, it's hard to imagine being less effective than Abreu, who started the season with one extra-base hit over his first 77 plate appearances, resulting in a line of .099/.156/.113.
Abreu has never played a game in the minors, not even for a rehab stint (the one time he could've used a tune-up toward the end of 2018, the minor league season had already ended). It sounds like he won't play a recorded game there, at least initially ...
Houston manager Joe Espada said it will be similar to Spring Training for Abreu.
“We want to control the volume of at-bats he gets,” Espada said. “We will have the coordinators there with him, guys hitting ground balls. We’re going to progress into the volume that he needs. We want to get it right. … We will let José dictate how many at-bats [he gets] and how to progress from one day to another.”
... so his pristine record of only MLB action in the States may still be intact in that regard.
Espada said the metrics underneath Abreu's struggles are sound, but it brings to mind a chart that Tom Tango posted last week regarding the aging curve for bat speed:
The easiest conclusion to draw is that Abreu was able to kick out of the pin last year with a rousing regular-season finish and productive postseason, but he doesn't have enough in the tank for a similar recovery this time around. The hope is that he manages to defy the expectations yet again, because it's tough to see him tell the media that he feels "embarrassed." Few get to leave the game on their own terms, but the hope is that Abreu can at least improve them.
Spare Parts
As the White Sox were wrapping up their one-run loss to the Twins on Tuesday, my social media feed was preoccupied with the swarm of bees that congregated on the netting behind home plate at Chase Field, necessitating a delay until pest control arrived. Imagine being Matt Hilton, performing a rather mundane professional task in the most appreciative environment possible.
With some 30,000 fans watching him, Hilton didn’t shy away from the spotlight.
As the lift returned to the ground, he pumped up the crowd by waving his arms, prompting chants of “MVP” in response from the crowd. Then, shortly before the 8:35 p.m. first pitch — which came 1 hour, 55 minutes after the originally scheduled 6:40 p.m. start time — Hilton was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, wearing his headgear to the mound before theatrically ripping it off, almost pro-wrestling style.
“I kind of ate it up a little bit for a little moment,” he said with a laugh. “It was a fun time.”
- Jerry Reinsdorf had a chance to change the White Sox -- and he blew it. Now what? -- The Athletic
- The White Sox are playing the same old game -- Baseball Prospectus
I think these were the haters, among others, that John Schriffen was referring to.
Zach Buchanan talked to a number of players who will reach free agency at the end of the season, and after watching what happened to Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, they're not as excited as they imagined they'd be.
The White Sox are back to being worse than the Marlins, who improved to 7-24 by knocking the Rockies down to 7-22 in the most painful fashion possible. Colorado starter Ryan Feltner was on track for a Maddux entering the ninth, only to give up three of the five runs the Marlins scored to tie the game. What struck me is Feltner's reaction:
"I just think right now that I let the team down. I’ve got to finish off that ninth inning."
The hopes of a classic Mike Trout MVP drive will be delayed another year, as he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. The timetable is unknown, and although it could be a four-to-six-week recovery if the damage is minimal, Trout was still near tears in frustration talking about it.
- Bally Sports North inaccessible for Comcast/Xfinity subscribers -- MLB.com
- Xfinity drops Bally Sports Detroit -- Detroit Free Press
Twins and Tigers games won't be available in their markets to customers of Comcast and Xfinity, as the ongoing Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy situation continues to deteriorate.
The Twins winning streak started with a four-game sweep of the White Sox, during which they brought a summer sausage into the dugout for good luck. They've since won nine straight games, so the sausage remains in play. Rocco Baldelli's reaction is worth the time.
- MLB to address uniforms after player complaints, per memo -- ESPN
- After Nike plans uniform changes, MLB players pleased, but wary -- The Athletic
In the end, Major League Baseball's reaction to the terrible new uniforms was similar to their response to the juiced baseballs: deflect and deny until abruptly doing the opposite. My question now is, if everybody on the product side is saying they made big mistakes, how can they continue to sell them to consumers?
