Chicago White Sox: The RBI race is really heating up now

We all know about how great Jose Abreu has been for the Chicago White Sox in his MLB career. He is now becoming known as one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise. His bat has been elite for a long time and he also plays some Gold Glove first base on defense. His value has been second to no player to put on that uniform for a very long time. When it is all said and done, he could be a top-five player in the history of the team.

The thing that has been Abreu’s most impressive skill in his MLB career has been his ability to drive in runs. RBIs aren’t the only stat to equate good players anymore but it is a stat that proves a player can have damaging plate appearances at the right time.

Even when the White Sox were a bad baseball team, Abreu was putting up big RBI numbers. Naturally, however, as the White Sox lineup gets better, Abreu’s RBI numbers get better as well. Here in 2021, he is trying to lead the league in runs batted in for the third year in a row. In 2020, his 60 RBIs in 60 games were a big part in him winning the AL MVP.

The race to lead the league is getting very interesting now. Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals had a big weekend against the White Sox which has allowed him to catch Abreu. They are currently tied at the top with 103. Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox has 101 and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays has 98.

The Chicago White Sox love what Jose Abreu does for them as far as RBIs.

All of them play in the American League so whoever leads them will lead the league in all likelihood. It is really cool to have a race that close with under a month left. Guys who are known as RBI machines want to drive in as many runs as they can and Abreu is the leader of that since the year 2019 started.

Abreu, as mentioned before, had 60 RBIs in 60 games in 2020. That is a pace of 162 RBIs which he probably would not have had. However, he certainly would have had well over 100. The only full season in which he didn’t have 100 was in 2018 when he had 78. He also only played in 128 games which is the least he has ever played in his career. It is also the only 100 loss season the White Sox had during the rebuild.

It would be nice to see Abreu lead the league again. All he cares about at this point is the playoffs but you know he wants to do what he does best which is drive in runs. He is one of the most important players on the roster and deserves to make a deep playoff run.