Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox is a back to back RBI champion.
For the second year in a row, Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox is the Major League Baseball RBI champion. He was literally an RBI-per-game player with 60 RBIs in 60 games. He earned the title by having four more RBIs than Marcel Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves. Luke Voit of the New York Yankees came in second in the American League with 52 RBIs. All of these players had great years and should be proud, especially Abreu as he led the White Sox to their first postseason berth since 2008.
Abreu should be the MVP of the American League for this accomplishment along with many others. All of these RBIs played a big part in getting this team to the playoffs. He really helped some of the younger guys find their game this season. There were ups and downs for a lot of them but Abreu was always there to protect them in the lineup. As he gets older, these guys will be growing into stars themselves and Abreu will have played a big part in that.
RBIs were the biggest category that Abreu led in this season but it wasn’t the only one. He led the American League with a .617 slugging percentage and he also led the AL in hits with 76. His 148 total bases also led all of Major League Baseball. It was a great time for Jose Abreu to have a career year. The only shame is when you think about what these numbers might have looked like if we played 162. There is always next year to build on the season he had this year.
Now, after winning two straight RBI titles, the focus has to be winning in the playoffs. Abreu has been with the White Sox for a long time. They stuck with him throughout the rebuild and it has paid off for both sides. Now, he gets his first crack at the beast that is the MLB postseason.
Even though he has never had any playoff experience, fans should feel confident that he will continue leading this team in every area offensively. Congrats to Jose Abreu on this incredible feat. Hopefully, we can now see you have some success in the playoffs. Next year, we might be in store for something even better.