Astros GM gets brutally honest on Jose Abreu’s disastrous slump
Astros first baseman Jose Abreu has gotten off to such a bad start that GM Dana Brown is prepared to intervene.
Much like the Houston Astros as a whole, Jose Abreu’s 2024 campaign has gotten off to a dreadful start. Abreu’s struggles haven’t gone unnoticed by general manager Dana Brown, who gave his honest review of the first baseman’s performance.
Abreu has started his season on a brutal 4-for-59 at the plate. All four hits have been singles, he has struck out 17 times and has made three errors at first base. Brown has not been impressed with what he has seen, but is hopeful that Abreu can bounce back, via Chandler Rome of The Athletic.\
“Listen, there’s no way to sugarcoat this: he’s scuffling right now and I think he knows it,” Brown said. “It’s wearing on him. I’m sure it’s wearing on our hitting coaches. The frustration mounts, but ultimately, hopefully, we can turn this thing around. I think we’re going to have to give him some time off, maybe platoon a little bit just to see if one of the other guys can get home and give him some time off.”
“It’s tough to watch when you see him go through these struggles because you know he’s such a gamer and he’s a competitor and you look at what he did toward the end of last year, all of that was exciting,” Brown continued. “To start off the way he’s starting off right now, it’s frustrating for him. I guarantee he’s frustrated.”
“But he’s got to climb out of it or else we’re going to have to mix and match because it’s tough to keep going in that direction,” Brown concluded.
Abreu is in the second season of a three-year, $58.5 million contract with Houston. At that price, and with the first baseman’s pedigree, the Astros need much better results.
With Abreu sitting, Houston turned to Jon Singleton at first base on Sunday. He hasn’t faired much better, hitting .250 with no home runs or RBI. Still, the Astros simply can’t afford Abreu to put up worse numbers than a player they’re paying less than $1 million in 2024.
Dana Brown hasn’t committed to fully benching Abreu, but it’s clear he is on thin ice. His contract may force Houston to keep him in the lineup long-term. But Brown isn’t going to let his struggles continue to cloud the offense. Bottom line, if Abreu can’t find his swing, Brown is prepared to alter Houston’s plan at first base.
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