Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal all slumping at the same time

Jose Abreu

A lot of the talk about the White Sox offense has centered around early-season injuries to Eloy Jimenez and Tim Anderson. Those hurt, no question, although Anderson returned to the lineup for Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Even more talk has centered around the usage of fringe players such as Nick Williams, Leury Garcia and Jake Lamb. Yes, it was a little odd to have Williams batting fifth and Lamb batting seventh on Tuesday night when the Sox were facing the best pitcher in the American League, Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

Williams was designated for assignment to make room for Anderson on the roster Thursday. In two days, he went from batting in the middle of the order to off the team. And Williams was the logical guy to go, so it's a fair question as to why he was given much responsibility while he was here.

And that said, the Sox's real problem offensively is slumps from key guys:

Jose Abreu is batting .184 with a .643 OPS. He is 9 for 49 on the season with 21 strikeouts. Twenty-one strikeouts in 13 games for the reigning AL MVP! And while he's got two home runs and nine RBIs, almost all of that production is tied up in the two grand slams he's hit already this season. 

Yoan Moncada is batting .191 with a .573 OPS. He is 9 for 47 on the season with 17 strikeouts. He has one home run and four RBIs, while batting in the cleanup spot. That's not enough production. 

Yasmani Grandal is batting .133 with a .600 OPS. He is 4 for 30, with one home run and six RBIs. Thank goodness he's taken nine walks to boost his OPS, but that's not enough hits for a guy who is batting No. 6 in the order.

The Sox are 6-7 after Thursday's loss. That's not too bad, considering they've gotten little from the Nos. 3, 4 and 6 batters in their lineup.

Let's see if any of these guys wake up this weekend as the Sox open a four-game series in Boston on Friday night.