Houston Astros boss hints at Slugger’s return this week

Earlier this week, Houston Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that struggling first baseman José Abreu had yet to take swings in a live game during his time at center team’s practice facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Well, on Sunday, Espada’s boss, general manager Dana Brown, told Sports Talk 790 in Houston something curious about Abreu’s availability.

Dan Mathews, who is a producer of the Astros’ pregame and postgame shows, posted that Brown said during the pregame show that Abreu might join the team for their road trip to face the Oakland Athletics next weekend.

That means the slugger could be with the team as early as Friday. Mathews’ report does not indicate whether this means Abreu would be active to play, which would have roster implications since he is not on the 26-man roster.

Abreu voluntarily accepted the assignment to West Palm Beach on April 30 after the worst start of his career offensively. Houston hoped the time away from the team would allow its 37-year-old former MVP to get his swing right.

When he left, he was hitting .099 with a .269 OPS and just one extra-base hit in 22 games. He only drove three times and his lack of production was holding back the lineup.

Without him, Jon Singleton took on the primary responsibilities at first base, giving some juice to the lineup. While the 32-year-old is hitting just .224, he has four home runs and 12 RBIs.

The Astros also gave playing time at first base to their Gold Glove utility player, Mauricio Dubón. Rookie Joey Loperfido is even thought to be able to play there, although he has yet to do so at the Major League level and only has a handful of early starts in the minors.

Abreu is in the middle of a three-year contract he signed last offseason.

He struggled to get going last year, but rebounded enough to slash .237/.296/.383/.679 with 18 homers and 90 RBIs. Still, his batting average represented a dramatic drop from the .304 he hit with the Chicago White Sox in 2022.

He failed to live up to the expectations he set for himself during his nine-year stint with the White Sox, where he hit .292 with 243 home runs and 863 RBIs. He earned three All-Star Game berths, won three Silver Sluggers, was the 2014 American League Rookie of the Year and the 2020 AL Most Valuable Player.