Jose Abreu said Tuesday he’s healthy and finally feels like he’s locked in at the plate.
After the slowest start of his career, the White Sox first baseman thinks he has rediscovered the approach that helped him become one of two players in baseball history to begin their careers with consecutive 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons.
With 12 games left before the All-Star break, Abreu only has a .755 OPS, which is 119 points lower than his career mark. But those figures and Abreu’s RBI count are on the rise in a month in which he has hit .310/.357/.563 with five homers and driven in 20.
“Everybody knows that this is a very difficult sport and I just started slow like I did last year, too,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “And I’ve been battling to try to get in a groove again, but it’s just work. I’ve been very confident in myself and I think that’s why I finally can say I’m feeling good at home plate and the results are there right now.”
The White Sox have played 76 games this season with Abreu having appeared in 74.
He missed Friday’s game to rest his sore legs. Both he and manager Robin Ventura said it was mandatory as Abreu — who is hitting .262/.320/.435 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs in 328 plate appearances — had some tightness in his right leg and his left was worse.
At this point last season, Abreu was hitting .291/.342/.488 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 307 plate appearances.
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After he was off Friday and Monday, Abreu said his legs are in good shape.
“Physically, I feel good,” Abreu said. “I had a little soreness in my legs a few days ago, but right now I’m feeling very good and that’s good. I think the offday yesterday was good for me, too.”
Though they have much ground to make up, Abreu likes where the White Sox are as a team. He likes that even though they have faced many obstacles, they’re still in the middle of the pack.
“We’re a .500 team right now and I think that’s not all bad because we started the season very hot and then we suddenly struggled and badly the last two months probably,” Abreu said. “Right now we’re 38-38 and that’s good because we’ve been in good and bad stretches and have been able to survive.”