José Abreu (baseball)
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José Dariel Abreu Correa (born January 29, 1987) is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman for the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox. Abreu played in the Cuban National Series for
Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...
before his
defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
from Cuba in August 2013. After being granted free agency by MLB, Abreu signed with the White Sox in October 2013. Since 2013, Abreu has performed primarily as a first baseman, however he has also filled in at designated hitter in slightly less than 20% of his current total of games played. Abreu won the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2014, the Silver Slugger Award in 2014, 2018, and 2020, and the American League's Most Valuable Player Award in 2020.


Professional career


Cuban career

Abreu set a Cuban home run record in 2010–2011 and was named league MVP. He had played five seasons in the Cuban Serie Nacional through 2007–2008, hitting .295 and slugging .467. After 48 games in 2008–2009, he was batting .345/.368/.600, earning the infielder a spot on Cuba's provisional roster for the
2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...
. He did not make the final cut and finished the season with a .346/.441/.630 batting line. He led the 2008-09 Cuban National Series with 30 times hit by pitch. He tied Yenier Bello and Alex Guerrero for 8th in homers (19), was eighth in slugging and fourth in strikeouts (69). Abreu was 2-for-10 in the
2009 World Port Tournament The 2009 World Port Tournament is an international baseball competition held at the DOOR Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from July 2–12, 2009. It was the 12th edition of the tournament and featured teams from Chinese Taipei, ...
, backing up
Ariel Borrero Ariel Borrero Alfonso (born January 1, 1972, in Santa Clara) is the starting first baseman for the Cuban national baseball team and for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series. In the 2005-06 Cuban National Series, the left-handed Bor ...
at first base. In the
2009 Baseball World Cup The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through ...
, he hit .250/.333/.469 in his first major tournament. He was listed in the IBAF's Final Report as being one of the All-Star outfielders alongside teammate
Alfredo Despaigne Alfredo Despaigne Rodriguez (born June 17, 1986) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He played for the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career In 2009, Despai ...
and Jon Weber, but other sources list Puerto Rico's Miguel Abreu, who had better statistics. He was not even used as a starter in the outfield, playing alongside
Ariel Borrero Ariel Borrero Alfonso (born January 1, 1972, in Santa Clara) is the starting first baseman for the Cuban national baseball team and for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series. In the 2005-06 Cuban National Series, the left-handed Bor ...
at first. In the gold medal game, he did not appear as Borrero saw the action. In 2009–2010, Abreu had his best year yet, hitting .400/.555/.822 with 82 runs, 30 homers, 76 RBI and 74 walks to 49 strikeouts in 89 games. He tied
Leonys Martín Leonys Martín Tápanes (born March 6, 1988), nicknamed "Ikadi", is a Cuban-American professional baseball center fielder who is currently a free agent. Born in Cuba, he played locally for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series, and for the C ...
for 6th in the Serie Nacional in runs, tied for third with 25 doubles, tied Yuli Gurriel for second in home runs (one behind Alfredo Despaigne in a to-the-wire home run race), was third with 235 total bases (behind Despaigne and Gourriel), again led with 30 times hit by pitch, tied Enrique Esteban Díaz for 4th in walks, led with 32 intentional walks (12 more than runner-up Yosvany Peraza), was second in average (.005 behind Despaigne), led in slugging (.008 over Despaigne) and probably led in OBP. He was named the All-Star first baseman. Abreu was Cuba's starting first baseman when they won the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, their first Gold in an international tournament in three years. He hit .292/.320/.500. In the finale, he went 1-for-3 and scored the first run in the victory over the Dutch national baseball team; he doubled off Rob Cordemans in the third and came home on a Yorbis Borroto hit. He helped Cuba finish second at the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament. In the
2010 World University Baseball Championship The 2010 World University Baseball Championship was an under-23 college baseball competition held at ''Meiji Jingu Stadium'' in Shinjuku, ''Yokohama Stadium'' in Naka-ku, Yokohama, ''Utsumi-Shimaoka Ballpark'' in Fuchū and ''KAIT Stadium'' in At ...
, he posted the best average by going 10-for-18 with two walks, a double, triple, four homers, nine runs and 12 RBI in six games as Cuba won the Gold. He was 0-for-4 in the finale, as Cuba edged Team USA. He was named the event's All-Star 1B. Abreu continued to improve in
2010–11 Cuban National Series The 2010–11 Cuban National Series is the 50th edition of the tournament. It began on Sunday, November 28 with a game between Villa Clara and Industriales Industriales is a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Located in Cerro, La Haba ...
with one of the greatest seasons in Cuban history. He hit .453/.597/.986 with 79 runs, 93 RBI and 33 home runs in only 66 games. Despite missing 23 games due to bursitis in his shoulder, he broke Despaigne's home run record (as did Yoenis Céspedes — both hit their 33rd on the season's last day). Despaigne would reclaim the record a year later. Abreu led the league in average (.052 over
Michel Enríquez Michel Enríquez Tamayo (born February 11, 1979 in Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud) is a retired Cuban baseball third baseman. Biography and career Enríquez, who plays third base for Isla de la Juventud in the Cuban National Series, led th ...
), slugging (a whopping .212 over runner-up
Frederich Cepeda Frederich Cepeda Cruz (born April 8, 1980) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for who is currently a free agent. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Yomiuri Giants. Career Cepeda signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Nip ...
), intentional walks (21) and homers (tied with Yoenis Céspedes), was second in RBI (6 behind Céspedes), tied for eighth in runs with Donal Duarte, was seventh in total bases (209) and 4th in times hit by pitch (21). Had he not been injured, he would have likely easily won a Triple Crown. He won
Cuban National Series Most Valuable Player Award The following is a list of most valuable players ( es, jugadores mas valiosos or ) in the Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of ...
. He was the second MVP from
Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...
, following Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr. by 31 years. Abreu was part of the Cuba national baseball team at the
2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...
. In Cuba's six games, he batted .383 and hit three home runs while recording nine RBIs.


Chicago White Sox

In August 2013, Abreu defected from Cuba to test the MLB free agent market. His defection was later confirmed by former teammate
Henry Urrutia Henry Alexander Urrutia Rodríguez ( ; born February 13, 1987) is a Cuban professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder for the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimo ...
. He established residency in Haiti. He then made his way to the Dominican Republic, where Henry Urrutia's agents planned to showcase him. In October, he signed a six-year contract with the Chicago White Sox worth $68 million. On the White Sox, Abreu joined fellow Cuban players
Alexei Ramírez Alexei Fernando Ramírez Rodriguez (born September 22, 1981) is a Cuban former professional baseball shortstop. He has played for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays in MLB and Pinar del Rio of the Cuban National Series ...
, Dayán Viciedo, and Rule 5 draft pick
Adrian Nieto Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...
.


2014: AL Rookie of the Year

Abreu recorded his first major league hit on March 31, 2014, against the
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
. On April 8, 2014, Abreu hit the first two home runs of his career in a game at Coors Field, helping his team defeat the
Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
15-3. On April 25, 2014, he captured his eighth home run of the year off Chris Archer, tying the rookie record for homers in March/April. Later that night, Abreu recorded his third multi-homer game with a walk-off grand slam off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher
Grant Balfour Grant Robert Balfour (born 30 December 1977) is an Australian former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, and Oakland Athletics. ...
giving him nine homers in his first month in the Major Leagues, surpassing the record of eight shared by
Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara () (); born January 16, 1980) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball first baseman, designated hitter and third baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "The Machine", ...
(2001), Carlos Delgado (1994), and Kent Hrbek (1982). Two days later, Abreu broke the rookie record for RBI in the month of April with 31, and extended the April rookie home run record to 10. For his performance, Abreu was awarded a share of the AL Player of the Week Award for April 21-27 along with Seattle Mariners' third baseman
Kyle Seager Kyle Duerr Seager (born November 3, 1987) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire career for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2011 to 2021. He was selected by the Mariners in the thi ...
. During this week, Abreu batted .310 with 5 home runs, 14 RBI and an .862 slugging percentage . On May 18, Abreu was placed on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left ankle. On June 2, Abreu returned from the DL to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his second at bat after his return, Abreu hit a two-run home run off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. On July 6, Abreu was selected to the
2014 MLB All-Star Game The 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 85th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Twins. This was the third All-Star Game played in the Twin Ci ...
along with teammates
Alexei Ramírez Alexei Fernando Ramírez Rodriguez (born September 22, 1981) is a Cuban former professional baseball shortstop. He has played for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays in MLB and Pinar del Rio of the Cuban National Series ...
and Chris Sale. At the All-Star Break, Abreu had a .292 batting average with 73 RBIs and an MLB-leading 29 home runs. During the season, Abreu was named both player of the month and rookie of the month for April & July, being something where no one else in baseball had ever won both awards in the same month twice in one season. Having won the rookie honor in June, Abreu became only the fourth player to win the Rookie of the Month honor three or more times in a season. Abreu finished the season with a White Sox rookie record 36 home runs. He won the 2014
Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
American League Rookie of the Year Award. He was awarded the AL Silver Slugger Award for first basemen, becoming the only White Sox first baseman besides Frank Thomas to ever gain the honor. Abreu was unanimously named the 2014 AL Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA on November 10, 2014.


2015

Abreu had an effective sophomore season in 2015, batting .290/.347/.502 with 30 home runs and 101 RBIs in 154 games. His .502 slugging percentage and 67 extra-base hits both ranked tenth in the American League.


2016

Abreu continued his productive pace in 2016 as he batted .293/.353/.468 with 25 home runs and 100 RBIs for the White Sox.


2017

On September 9, 2017, Abreu hit for the cycle against the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle since José Valentín on April 27, 2000. In 2017, Abreu held many of the top 20 ranks within MLB, 8th in MLB for batting average, batting .304 for the season, and led the league in total bases. Abreu created a total of 116 runs throughout the season, placing him at fifth in the American League. He was third in the league for triples, hitting 6 over the course of the regular season, and had 82 total extra base hits, making him second in the league.


2018

In 2018, Abreu again was selected to play in the 2018 All-Star Game as part of the American League team as a first baseman. After the 2018 season, he was also awarded his second Silver Slugger Award for first basemen. He batted .265/.325/.473 in 2018, each the lowest figure of his Major League Baseball career.


2019

In 2019, Abreu batted .284/.330/.503 with 33 home runs and led the American League in RBIs (123) and sacrifice flies (10), and led the major leagues in grounding into double plays (24). On defense, he had a -4 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the lowest in the American League among first basemen. On November 14, 2019, Abreu agreed to the White Sox's qualifying offer of a one-year, $17.8 million contract. On November 22, Abreu signed a three-year contract with the White Sox worth $50 million, superseding his previously accepted qualifying offer.


2020

Abreu had another strong offensive season for the White Sox in 2020. On August 22 and 23 against the Chicago Cubs, Abreu tied an MLB record by hitting a home run in four straight at-bats. Abreu hit 3 home runs in his 3 at-bats on August 22 off
Kyle Hendricks Kyle Christian Hendricks (born December 7, 1989), nicknamed "The Professor", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2014, and led MLB in earned run average for ...
,
Rowan Wick Rowan D. Wick (born November 9, 1992) is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Diego Padres. Career Amateur Wick attended Carson Graham Secondary School in ...
, and
Duane Underwood Jr. Duane Lee Underwood Jr. (born July 20, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. Career Amateur career Underwood attended A ...
Then the next day, Abreu hit a home run in his first at-bat off Yu Darvish. Overall, Abreu batted .317/.370/.617, equalling a career high in batting average while setting a new career best for slugging. Abreu led the American League in slugging percentage, RBIs (60), games played (60), hits (76), extra base hits (34), total bases (148), double plays grounded into (10; leading the league for the second consecutive year), and errors by a first baseman (5), while also finishing in the top 10 in home runs (19, 2nd) and doubles (15, 9th). Abreu's strong season helped to lead the White Sox to their first postseason berth since 2008. In game 1 of the
Wild Card Series The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Major League Baseball postseason, postseason. A single wild card game was first ...
against the
Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...
, Abreu hit his first postseason home run in his second at-bat off
Jesus Luzardo Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. The Sox would win the game 4–1 but would lose the next 2 games which eliminated them. For his efforts during the regular season, Abreu was named the
AL MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...
, becoming the first White Sox player to win the award since Frank Thomas in 1994. Abreu became the fourth different White Sox player to win AL MVP joining Thomas, Dick Allen, and Nellie Fox.


2021

In 2021, Abreu tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving at
spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
. His first practice with the White Sox was on February 27, five days after their first full-squad workout. On April 14, 2021, in a game against the Cleveland Indians in top of the 9th inning, Abreu made a play at first base and was credited with saving a
no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
for Carlos Rodon. Abreu picked up a ground ball that hit off of Josh Naylor and with Naylor sprinting as fast as he could to first base, Abreu stretched his right foot out like he was a baserunner sliding to the bag and his foot touched the base just before Naylor reached it with his headfirst slide attempt. On May 14, 2021, Abreu was involved in a collision at the first base line with
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
batter Hunter Dozier during the first game of a double header. Neither of them played in the second game of the double header, but Abreu returned to play on the following day. On May 16, Abreu scored a walk-off run on a wild pitch by
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
pitcher Wade Davis. On August 12, 2021, in a game played at the MLB at Field of Dreams site in Dyersville, Iowa, Abreu hit the first ever official Major League home run to be connected in Iowa off Andrew Heaney. Overall in 2021, Abreu took a step back. Despite hitting 30 home runs and 117 RBIs during the season, he had a batting average of .261 and only had 148 hits in 152 games. He was also hit 22 times by pitches. He grounded into 28 double plays, more than any other major leaguer.


2022

For the 2022 season, Abreu batted .304/.378/.446 in 157 games. However, he had a significant decrease in power, hitting only 15 home runs with 75 RBI.


Houston Astros

On November 28, 2022, Abreu signed a three-year, $58.5 million contract with the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
.


Personal life

Abreu wears #79, an unusually high uniform number. His mother, Daysi Correa, chose the number so that people would remember it. Abreu's mother and the rest of his extended family remained in CubaDavid Haugh
Jose Abreu traveled a long way to join White Sox
'' Chicago Tribune'', Published 25 January 2014, Accessed 6 May 2014.
until his parents moved to the United States in May 2014. The
2014 MLB All-Star Game The 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 85th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Twins. This was the third All-Star Game played in the Twin Ci ...
was the first game in which his parents saw him play since leaving Cuba.


See also

*
Cuban National Series Most Valuable Player Award The following is a list of most valuable players ( es, jugadores mas valiosos or ) in the Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of ...
* List of baseball players who defected from Cuba * List of Chicago White Sox award winners and league leaders * List of current Major League Baseball players by nationality *
List of Major League Baseball annual putouts leaders The following is a list of annual leaders in putouts in Major League Baseball (MLB), with separate lists for the American League and the National League. The list also includes several professional leagues and associations that were never part of ...
* List of Major League Baseball career slugging percentage leaders *
List of Major League Baseball players from Cuba The following is a list of baseball players from Cuba who have played in Major League Baseball. A * José Abreu (first baseman), José Abreu * José Acosta (baseball), José Acosta * Merito Acosta * Rafael Almeida * Witto Aloma, Luis (Witto) ...
* List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle


References


External links


IBAF
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Abreu, Jose 1987 births Living people American League Most Valuable Player Award winners Chicago White Sox players Defecting Cuban baseball players 2013 World Baseball Classic players People from Cruces, Cuba Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Elefantes de Cienfuegos players Major League Baseball first basemen Silver Slugger Award winners American League All-Stars American League RBI champions Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games bronze medalists for Cuba Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games