Jose Abreu stars as Mr. August

Jose Abreu

Sept. 1 must be the saddest day of the year for Jose Abreu. He probably never wants August to end.

The White Sox first baseman is always a productive hitter, but when the calendar says August, he becomes an unstoppable force in the batter's box.

This year was no exception. For the month of August, Abreu batted .330/.382/.661 with 10 home runs, 25 RBIs, seven doubles, 22 runs scored and 74 total bases. His 1.043 OPS was the second-highest in the league for the month.

For his efforts, Abreu has been named American League Player of the Month for August. This is nothing new. Abreu won AL Player of the Month in August 2020, as well.

For his career, Abreu is batting .335/.390/.604 with 56 home runs and 166 RBIs in August. His next-best month in terms of run production is May, during which Abreu has 38 career home runs and 129 career RBIs. 

So, it's safe to say Abreu qualifies as Mr. August.

And, of course, he went 0 for 3 Wednesday night in his first game of September. Perhaps the spell has been broken.

The Sox (78-56) were off Thursday. They start a six-game road trip to Kansas City and Oakland on Friday night against the Royals.