Chicago White Sox slugger Jose Abreu puts milestone ball in baggie
By Phil Watson
Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox has had a tremendous rookie season and passed a milestone on Saturday when he drove in his 100th run of the season.
Abreu became the first rookie since Ryan Zimmerman in 2006 to hit the century mark in RBI and he’s got the ball he hit to drive in that run tucked away in a safe place … sort of:
Hey, give the kid some credit—he did zip up the bag.
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Abreu, the 27-year-old Cuban defector who signed with the White Sox last October, has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations in his first big-league season. He is hitting .321/.383/.598 in 132 games with 35 doubles, 34 homers and 100 RBI.
He leads the American League in slugging percentage (.598) and OPS (.982) and is second in Offensive WAR (6.2) and total bases (304). He’s also in the top five in batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBI.
Abreu was an All-Star as a rookie, joining Jim Busby and Minnie Minoso (1951), Tommie Agee (1966), Carlos May (1969) and Ron Kittle (1983) as rookie non-pitchers to be selected from the White Sox in the first seasons.