CHICAGO -- José Abreu does not currently look like the American League Most Valuable Player-level presence he was for much of the 2020 season.
That observation held true before the White Sox first baseman finished 0-for-3 in a 9-3 loss to the Mariners Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, with 32,189 in attendance for the first night this season with full fan capacity possible at the ballpark. Abreu, who has been one of the steadiest offensive forces in MLB since joining the White Sox for his AL Rookie of the Year campaign in 2014, has struggled throughout the month of June, hitting just .173 with one home run, five doubles and seven RBIs.
After his team’s sixth loss in seven games, dropping the White Sox to 44-31, manager Tony La Russa speculated his leader might not be completely healthy while making it clear it was just his use of “observational analytics.”
“There's 'hurt' and 'sore,' you know? It sure seems to me he's dealing with some pain issues that he wants to play through,” said La Russa of Abreu. “We're going to talk to him about it. There's still three-plus months to go.
“It just seems to me that he's doing -- and a lot of guys are watching -- atypical kind of stuff for him, at-bats-wise. I wouldn't doubt he's got some aches, so we're going to talk to him, do the right thing by him, that's for sure."
On Friday, Abreu reached base in the eighth inning when he was hit by an offering from Seattle's Rafael Montero. He also grounded out in the second, hit into a double play in the fourth and flied out to right to end the sixth with two runners on base.
La Russa’s idea to sit Abreu, or maybe use him more at designated hitter, won’t be Abreu’s preference, with the slugger priding himself on playing every day -- and specifically at first base, where he continues to be a force defensively. He also understands the team is shorthanded offensively due to injury, missing second baseman Nick Madrigal and five outfielders in Eloy Jiménez, Luis Robert, Adam Engel, Billy Hamilton and Adam Eaton.
So there’s a tendency for Abreu to take on more individually to simply help his squad maintain its two-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. But shortstop Tim Anderson doesn’t see that sort of demeanor from his friend and teammate.
“You've got to understand, we're playing one of the toughest games there is. Of course you're going to have times where you struggle and you fail but it's a great opportunity for you to learn,” Anderson said. “He's definitely digging into what's going on.
“We make the game look easy, but it's really hard," Anderson continued. "If we were to swap for a day I'm pretty sure you guys [media] wouldn't be able to find a barrel one time. So he's just got to understand, we're playing a tough sport. We continue to work, continue to get better and continue to identify ourselves and keep learning the game.”
Anderson had watched Abreu working diligently in the cage prior to delivering the above comments, once again highlighting Abreu’s tireless work ethic. But a team scoring three runs or fewer eight times in the last 10 games and featuring a slash line of 192/.270/.304 over its last seven games truly needs a force such as Abreu to be at full strength.
“He just doesn’t look right. Let’s try to figure out why,” La Russa said. “Just to make sure. This is me looking and saying maybe, because you can tell when he swings it’s not quite the same.
“He’s very tough about going out there and playing," added La Russa. "So, he’s dealt with this before, how sore is he. Can he play through it like he always has or is it something better to back him off and DH him or give him a couple of days?”
On the other side of things Friday night, lefty Carlos Rodón struck out eight and walked four over five innings and 104 pitches, ultimately taking the loss and falling to 6-3 on the season. He gave up a two-run homer to Luis Torrens in the second to dig an early hole -- one the White Sox never were able to claw back from. Torrens added another two-run shot in the seventh off Zack Burdi, as Chicago's tough stretch continued in a home venue where they’ve been dominant. Friday's loss brought its record at Guaranteed Rate Field to 27-13 on the season.
“Every team has stretches where they struggle, whether it’s offensively, defensively or pitching, and I think right now it seems like we’re struggling both ways,” Rodón said. “It’s that time of the year where we’ve just got to get out of this funk and move on from it.”