The Houston Astros have had a busy day with their roster ahead of their series with the Cleveland Guardians. The team called up a versatile slugger in Joey Loperfido, designated reliever Joel Kuhnel for assignment, and sent utility infielder Grae Kessinger to the injured list. Now, it looks like the Astros are making another roster. This move will be official on Wednesday, with veteran first baseman Jose Abreu being optioned to West Palm Beach, according to Chandler Rome of the Athletic.
José Abreu is not with the Astros, GM Dana Brown said. Both sides decided that Abreu will be optioned to West Palm Beach effective tomorrow “to get some at-bats and his timing back right.”
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 30, 2024
Jose Abreu Optioned During Terrible Slump
Abreu, 37, is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract that he signed before the 2023 season. Many analysts thought it was an overpay, and Abreu has proven the doubters right so far with his production.
While his bat rebounded a little bit to end the season in 2023, it’s been largely underwhelming and even abysmal in 2024. Abreu hit .237/.296/.383 in 594 plate appearances. His bat seemingly lost power after his age-35 season, and he hit a career-low 15 homers in 2022 and 18 in 2023. To complicate things, he posted the lowest OBP of his career and walked in just 7.1% of his plate appearances. While he isn’t known as one to take his walks, Abreu was in the 35th percentile for walks in 2023.
It’s been even worse for him in 2024.
He’s struggled mightily at contact this season. He’s in the 38th percentile for strikeouts with 23.4%. His chase rate is in the 26th percentile, and his whiff rate is in the 17th percentile. When he does make contact, they’re not hard-hit balls. Abreu is in the 8th percentile for hard hit % and the 27th percentile for average exit velocity.
Making matters worse, he’s walked just 3.9% of the time, which would be the lowest of his career if it continued like this.
No matter how you slice Abreu’s 2024, it’s clear why the Astros sought to option Jose Abreu.
What to Expect in Abreu’s Absence
The choice for the Astros to option Jose Abreu wasn’t theirs to make. Given that his contract is a guaranteed major league contract, Abreu can refuse any minor league assignments. However, Abreu opted to work with the Astros and was willingly optioned to allow the team some flexibility and allow him to work out what the problems are and to fix them if they can be.
In his absence, we’ll likely see Jon Singleton and Joey Loperfido take over. Loperfido was thought to be used as a utility player a bit. It’s more likely that he’ll see at-bats at first base with Jose Abreu not being a factor. If Abreu does return, it will be interesting to see what the Astros do to alleviate the log jam. The obvious option would be to let go of Singleton. However, it does depend on Loperfido bringing his hot bat from the minors up to the major leagues.
With the Astros choosing to option Jose Abreu, some might see it as the end of the line for the aging superstar. There is a chance he comes back, as we’ve seen plenty of players bounce back in their late thirties. However, the numbers and profile mean that he’ll have an uphill battle to find his way back to the Astros roster.
