My biggest issue with Abreu is that I get the feeling is heart isn't in the game anymore. Does that many have any sort of pride? Has he commented on his sucking and what he's doing to get better? His at bats are completely non-competitive and his body language just says he doesn't give a crap anymore. I like to see some signs that he even cares that he's sucking and is one of the worst players in the league now.
This is entirely false. Everyone has said the dude is consistently working too hard if anything. They zoomed in on him sitting on the bench during the Royals broadcast last night after he was pinch hit for in the 10th and he legit had tears in his eyes.
I don’t take a 37 year old sucking so bad he’s brought to tears as any kind of positive sign that his heart is still in the game or that he has fire/drive/ability to fix his problem. I actually don’t doubt his work ethic which makes his issues all the more concerning. That said, I haven’t seen the video so I’m skeptical he was actually crying.
By all accounts, Abreu's pride and work ethic are exceptionally high. Frequently that can be detrimental as he refuses to ask for help, views any legitimate reason as an excuse, and never wants to take time off.
It’s got to be hard as **** on him. Remember how happy he was when he hit that first homer in Oakland?
Abreu loves baseball. It has nothing to do with his heart. This is about physical limitations. I don't know if it's injury or age. Probably a little bit of both.
You just think I’m making it up or what? I literally witnessed it myself but J.R. just posted the video of it above so you can see it for yourself. I never said it was a positive sign. If anything, it’s more negative because it looked like the face of a man truly defeated. A man who realizes no matter how much work he puts in, the game he loves has passed him by. That said, simply saying he “doesn’t care or give a crap about his performance” is dumb as f*** and goes against everything every teammate has said about him. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t be taking more swings and working so hard to fix to the point they said he needed to tone it down this year. He damn sure wouldn’t have that reaction.
Wasn't that long ago that Beltran was signed for $20 million and was very mush washed on arrival. They still gave him opportunities (largely due to no other valid options), and somehow still got to 500 PA including some key playoff AB's... but it was clear he was done. That was basically what Abreu's season was LAST year. Its becoming more and more clear that he wasn't just harboring an injury. 2022 should have been his last year as an everyday player and 2023 basically is the transition to retirement (while still being able to connect here/there... or even put together a few good weeks here/there). But thus far this year seems to be what happens when one just doesn't have it. He's still going to get chances because they have absolutely nobody else who can play that position everyday on the current roster with any sort of upside.
I could be wrong but I don’t remember pitchers blowing 91-92 by him consistently last year. jeez we have one more year of him
They'll eat the contract to not play him. Only question is whether it will happen this year at some point. Highly doubtful (barring some miracle... ahem PED) that he's on the opening day roster next year.
I can't imagine the internal pressure the guy puts on himself and the longer the struggle continues the harder it will be. IMO he needs to sit down for a week and no Singleton is not the answer, at least Abreau has shown he can do it at this level. 1st base is a black hole in the lineup and at some point, you have to take feelings out of the equation and do what's best for the team. I am sure Jose is a great guy and I don't think it's for lack of trying but something isn't clicking.
I think him getting PH for in a tie game situation with the winning run in scoring position, for a guy who was a major RBI force last year (despite his noticeable decline from 2022)...in only the 12th game of the season... is speaking volumes.
Supposedly, Abreu was injured during ST and might not be healthy. The smart thing to do is playing Singleton (since he's on the roster) and allowing Abreu to sit and heal. At worst, the Astros lose nothing at the plate. Jon's defense can suck and still be better than Abreu. At best, Jon produces better with more consistent ABs. In the meantime, Abreu gets healthier and maybe produces better after a couple weeks of rest. Just play him once/week against a LHP for a couple weeks. Astros management seems to be completely insane because this should be obvious.
Abreu has opened it in a startling and visible slump. Through his first 12 games, Abreu is 3-for-37 with no extra-base hits. He has driven in one run, via a sacrifice fly. He hit eighth in Houston’s lineup Wednesday, the first time he has started a game in the eighth spot in 11 major league seasons. Thursday morning, Abreu was candid about his early struggles in an interview at Kauffman Stadium. He said, through an interpreter, that he feels good physically and believes his swing is mechanically sound. “I think a lot of it’s just confidence,” Abreu said. “Sometimes when you lose confidence, everything in the game gets hard. So I think for me, it’s just trying to get that confidence back at the plate.” Astros manager Joe Espada acknowledged this week that Abreu appears to be lacking confidence in his at-bats. So did Astros hitting coach Alex Cintrón, who works closely with Abreu. “I think it’s confidence,” Cintrón said. “He’s got to get back and recognize who he is and what he’s done in the past to be the hitter he is. I think he knows that, too, and he’s trying to get out of his head, trying to produce.” Abreu has been a slow starter through his career. His lifetime .742 OPS in March and April is his lowest of any month. He posted his best numbers in years past after the All-Star break. His start this season, albeit in a small sample, is different. Abreu had never played his first 12 games of a season without an extra-base hit. He didn't play in Thursday's 13-3 loss to the Royals. leaving him with a .227 OPS in 41 plate appearances. Cintrón said Abreu’s mechanics appear OK but his timing is clearly off. Abreu’s front foot is getting down late. He is diving at pitches instead of staying back and trusting his hands. Cintrón said Abreu is in a good place when he’s hitting fastballs to right-center field and pulling off-speed pitches; neither is happening. “It’s not there,” Abreu agreed. “I’m going to be honest. The timing is not there.” Abreu has a 38.3% swing-and-miss rate this season; his career rate is 25.2%. He has averaged an 85.1 mph exit velocity on 25 batted balls in play. Just four had an exit velocity above 95 mph. “When I came out of spring training, I thought I felt very good. And obviously, the timing is not there, so we need to continue working,” Abreu said. “We’re not going to give up, and we’re never going to get tired of working hard.” Abreu struggled with his timing amid an awful start to last season, too, before finding an adjustment in early June that helped him produce a better month. “We watch videos, and I remind him, ‘You can hit,’ ” Cintrón said. “The swing’s a little bit long; he’s late in getting the foot down. But that starts with confidence. … When your head is all over the place and you don’t have confidence, it doesn’t matter if you have the right mechanics or not. So for me, it’s mental, helping him take good at-bats and feel something click to get out of this slump.” Thursday morning, Espada was asked whether Abreu remains an everyday player. “He’s going to continue to get his opportunities,” Espada said. “We need José Abreu to get to places we want to get to. We need him. He’s part of this club. We believe in him. At some point, he’ll get going.” Espada said he is “trying to find good matchups for (Abreu). Also trying to get Singleton going. So that’s where I’m at right now. Trying to do what’s best for José and for the team.” Said Abreu: “Obviously, he (Espada) is also in a tough position, and it doesn’t help that the team is not playing well and that also I’m not playing well. I think, for me, it’s just continue working hard and try to function how I know that I can function, because I haven’t been doing that right now.” “We need him, and he knows that,” Cintrón said of Abreu. “He’s a veteran guy that knows he’s not doing well, he’s not performing up to his caliber. He understands that … and he works as hard as anybody.” Abreu said Thursday his start has been “difficult. Because I think I respect myself as a human being, and I feel right now that I am disrespecting myself, just because I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.” He was asked how he has emerged from similar stretches before. “Insist,” Abreu said. “You’ve got to insist and continue trying to do it. In life, you go through a lot of tough things. But you’ve got to continue insisting, ‘I’m not going to give up until I get out of this.’ “We’re going to get out of it. Obviously, not having a solution might be part of the problem. But trust me, we’re going to get out of this.”
