The Houston Astros signed Jose Abreu to be another big bat in what was supposed to be one of the league's best lineups, but it hasn't panned out at all. Abreu struggled for much of the 2023 regular season (although he did wake up in the postseason), and was even worse to begin the 2024 campaign.
The 37-year-old had seven hits in 71 at-bats and slashed .099/.156/.113 with just one extra-base hit (a double), in 22 games for the Astros this season. He wasn't the only reason they got off to such a brutal start but obviously wasn't helping at all.
In an effort to try and get him right again, the Astros sent Abreu down to the minor leagues. Nobody knew how long he'd be there, and two weeks later he doesn't sound any closer to returning to the majors.
Jose Abreu's minor league stint won't be short
Abreu was demoted to the minors on April 30. As of May 16, he still has yet to appear in a single game in West Palm Beach, where their FCL affiliate plays. All he has done is take batting practice. When asked if he'd be back in the majors within the month, Astros manager Joe Espada declined to offer a timetable for when Abreu will be back.
If it's the middle of the month and Abreu hasn't appeared in a game yet in Rookie Ball, it's hard to envision him getting promoted back to the majors this month. Houston will presumably want to see him play a good amount of games in Florida, and they'd also likely want him to play in the upper minors too to ensure that he's ready to return.
Jon Singleton has stepped up more than any realistic Astros fan could've expected, as he has a .680 OPS in the 30 games he's appeared in. Obviously, they'd like more offense from their first base position, but Singleton had a career OPS of .603 entering this season. He's outperformed that by a decent margin.
Singleton being somewhat decent gives the Astros some additional rope to carry on with him and keep Abreu in the minors. How long that lasts is truly anyone's best guess.