Adam Eaton and the White Sox offensive struggles

Jun 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton (1) is greeted in the dugout after a home run in the third inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Are Adam Eaton’s struggles at the plate the reason why the Chicago White Sox offense is sputtering?

The White Sox are two games under the .500 mark and were just swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this past weekend.

In those games, Eaton was a combined 4-for-13 with one run and one walk. He struck out four times against the Angels. In his past 10 games, Eaton is batting just .171 with seven hits and two RBIs.

Lets’s take a look at five different aspects of Eaton offensively.

• Batting average
Since his return from the disabled list, Eaton has hit .224, which is far from what you would want out of an elite leadoff hitter.

Before Eaton went on the disabled list, he was hitting .266, which is at least respectable. A 42-point difference is huge, especially if that player is your lead-off hitter.

• K-to-BB rate
After Eaton has returned from the DL, he has struck out 20 times. However, when it comes to reaching base via walk, Eaton has only done so twice.

When a leadoff hitter is not making enough contact and also is failing to reach base by drawing walks, it makes it tougher to score runs.

• RBIs
While the leadoff hitter’s main job is not to drive in runs, the majority of Eaton’s RBIs this season came before he went on the DL.

Eaton had 14 RBIs before he went on the DL but has just three since his return.

Even though run production is for the middle of the order, it is still nice to have a guy at the top of the order who can drive in runs.