Ostrowski: Abreu is the reason for recent White Sox dive
Fire manager Robin Ventura. Starter James Shields isn't enough pitching. It's time to bring up prospect Tim Anderson to be the every day shortstop.
You've heard it all and it be would be hard to disagree with any of that.
But the Sox's top priority doesn't have anything to do with those sorts of changes. It has everything to do with getting Jose Abreu back to what he was. In 2014, he was the AL rookie of the year, an all-star, fourth in AL MVP voting, and top five in just about every offensive category.
Abreu is supposed to be a part of the White Sox's core that keeps them in contention for the AL Central title. The group that includes Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, and Adam Eaton. The Sox are in the division race in June in spite of Abreu.
One-third of the season is already in the book and Abreu's production has taken a nose dive compared to his averages over 2014 and 2015.
The first baseman's batting average and on-base percentage are down over 50 points. His on-base plus slugging is down over 200 points. Abreu is on pace to hit 15 fewer home runs and drive in 19 less runs.
According to FanGraphs' wins above replacement stat, Abreu is the 172nd best player in baseball. His -0.7 WAR is the worst on the entire White Sox roster.
That's how bad it is. The metrics are saying he's their worst player.
Abreu is making nearly 12 million dollars, their second highest salary, and is under contract for the next three and a half years.
Roster construction is why the Sox need the old Abreu. He is expected to be one of a few studs, but is playing more like a scrub. The offense has a ceiling since they only have three to four dependable hitters. A couple of players are out and all of a sudden the lineup is littered with humans named Jason Coats and J.B. Shuck. Their pitching had to be near perfect when they were winning consistently with a struggling Abreu.
It may seem like Abreu is striking out and chasing pitches outside of the strike zone more often. Neither are the case. His strikeout rate hasn't budged. It's been at 21-percent all three seasons. He actually has a lower swinging strike rate and chases less pitches than he did in 2014.
The issue for Abreu is the type of contact that he's creating off the bat. Two years ago, the first baseman's line drive rate was 23 percent. It's dipped down to 17 percent. His soft contact is up 6 percent and hard contact down 4 percent from two years ago.
Just imagine the pitchforks if Greg Walker were still the Sox hitting coach. I can almost hear Bob on the South Side calling to scream, "Walker ruined Abreu!" Many will say general manager Rick Hahn needs to add more than Shields, but they aren't going anywhere with this version of Abreu.
• Joe Ostrowski is a co-host of the "Hit & Run" baseball show from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on WSCR 670-AM The Score with Barry Rozner. Follow him on Twitter@JoeO670.