Jose Abreu hospitalized with infection in thigh, expected to miss series with Indians

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Jose Abreu is facing another medical issue as his fifth major league season comes to a close.

The White Sox first baseman has been hospitalized with an infection in his right thigh, according to the team, which added that the infection is unrelated to his previous trip to the hospital, when he had surgery to relieve testicular torsion last month.

The White Sox have officially designated Abreu as day-to-day, though he's expected to miss this week's three-game series against the Cleveland Indians in Ohio.

Abreu missed about three weeks following last month's procedure, a layoff that ended the idea of a fifth consecutive season with at least 25 home runs and 100 RBIs. He returned to action on Sept. 10 and picked up three hits in that game, before going hitless in his last five contests.      

The 2018 campaign has been Abreu's worst, statistically, since coming over from Cuba ahead of the 2014 season. He's been a pillar of consistency during his big league career, and even an extended midseason slump didn't seem capable of slowing down his production too much, as he was on fire coming out of the All-Star break.

But battling a new health issue, Abreu's stat line looks like this with just 13 games remaining on the team's schedule and perhaps only a maximum of 10 games remaining in his season: a .265/.325/.473 slash line with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs. All of those numbers, save slugging percentage, would be career lows.  

 However, 2018 has not been without its big moments for Abreu, who was elected the American League's starting first baseman for the All-Star Game.

Abreu is under team control through the end of the 2019 season. His value at the plate and the rebuilding status of the team could cause his names to pop up in trade rumors once again. But the White Sox speak highly of the 31-year-old, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him stick with the team as the rebuilding effort progresses toward planned perennial contention. 

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