Houston Astros slugger Jose Abreu had an incredible MLB debut in 2014 with the Chicago White Sox.
He hit 36 home runs that year and followed that with 30 in 2015.
From 2014 to 2019, he hit no fewer than 22 in every season.
Even in the shortened 2020 campaign, he had 19 and won the AL MVP award.
After going yard 30 times in 2021, his output decreased to 15 in 2022.
The White Sox opted not to bring him back, and he signed a multi-year deal with the Astros.
His diminishing power left him with no homers on the season… until Sunday.
It took Jose Abreu 280 ABs to hit a HR
I’d be sprinting around the bases too pic.twitter.com/tMIE6mEMEP
— David Mendelson (@DMendy02) May 29, 2023
After 280 at-bats with no home runs this year, Abreu went deep against Oakland Athletics lefty Sam Long for his first homer of the season.
He was very, very happy and even sprinted around the bases.
His teammates greeted him with cheers and joy in the dugout.
Yes, Abreu is already 36 years old, but the extent of his power slump was reaching unimaginable levels.
Nothing like facing the A’s league-worst pitching staff to put an end to a bad streak.
Nobody knows how many home runs will he hit from now until the end of the campaign, but he will be hard-pressed to tie last year’s 15.
His game-changing power from his White Sox days seems to be long gone.
Still, he can find ways to contribute even with diminished power.
He did that last year, when he had a solid .824 OPS despite the 15 homers.
This year, he is at .214/.272/.265 with a .538 OPS.
He has a long way to go to reach respectability again, but Sunday represented a very important first step.
