Jose Abreu (finally) has a big game for White Sox

Jose Abreu

I don't know that Jose Abreu is necessarily a slow starter. His career March/April slash line is .258/.326/.486, and he has 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in 141 career games during the first month of the season.

That's respectable.

He is, however, a notorious warm-weather hitter. Look at his August career slash line (.331/.391/.575) and his July career slash line (.300/.366/.510). Abreu's pattern is characterized by a mediocre or less-than-mediocre first half, followed by a torrid second half.

This April has been slower than most for Abreu. He came into Monday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles with a .192/.273/.372 slash, which is uncharacteristically cold for such an accomplished hitter. The usual caveats apply about small sample sizes, and you had to believe Abreu was about due for a breakout.

Porous Baltimore pitching seemed to be the cure for what ails Abreu, and the Sox in general. The first baseman went 3 for 6 with a home run and five RBIs in Monday's 12-2 Sox win over the Orioles.

The Sox posted three four-run innings -- four in the fifth, four in the seventh and four in the eighth. Abreu contributed an RBI single in the fourth, a two-run homer in the seventh and a two-run single in the eighth.

He now has four home runs and 17 RBIs through the first 21 games, and with one good performance, he's basically back on the run production pace you'd like to see from him.

Obviously, most of the focus for the Sox is on the younger guys. Who will be part of the future and who will play their way out of the plans? Abreu is one of the veterans who may or may not be here next year and beyond, but for now, the team needs him to be the same stabilizing force he has been in the past.

That's especially true because he bats third, right behind Yoan Moncada. If Abreu is hitting well, and pitchers are worried about him, that means more fastballs to hit for Moncada.

Anything that makes Moncada better is good for the Sox's future.

The Sox are now 9-12 for the season and 2-2 on the current six-game road trip, after dropping two out of three over the weekend in Detroit. There are two games left in Baltimore before the South Siders come home to start a 10-game homestand.