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Jose Abreu struggling to live up to lofty ADP

Colin Henderson explains the metrics causing Chicago White Sox 1B Jose Abreu's underwhelming first half to the season.

Video Transcript

COLIN HENDERSON: White Sox slugger Jose Abreu had a nice weekend against the Tigers, going 5 for 14 with a homer and 6 RBIs. This improved his season line to 250, 330, 447, with 14 homers, 61 RBIs, and 42 runs scored entering Monday. This season has been a major letdown for the reigning AL MVP after he hit 0.317 19 homers and 60 RBIs in 17 less games in 2020. While he remains a great source of RBIs locked into the heart of a potent White Sox lineup, he's currently on pace for his lowest career batting average and has not found his consistent power stroke, hitting only 2 home runs in the month of June.

He has shown he can still hit the ball hard though, with an average exit velocity and hard hit percentage both in the top 10% of the league. However, he is struggling to make consistent contact, as he is on pace to set a career high in strikeouts while being in the bottom 20% of the majors in WHIP percentage and chase rate. Barring a significant turnaround in the contact or power departments, it's unlikely Abreu will provide enough production to match this ADP of 35 in Yahoo leagues. However, he looks like a lock to provide 100-plus RBIs while giving you average to slightly above-average production in homers and runs scored.