Jose Abreu hit his 100th career home run with the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 387-foot homer wasn’t enough to bring the White Sox back, as they lost 5-4, but it did extend an unusual streak for Abreu.
The Cuban first baseman has played in 43 of Chicago’s 44 games so far this season and a week before June, Abreu still doesn’t have a home run at home. His eighth-inning home run in Arizona was Abreu’s ninth dinger of 2017, all coming away from Guaranteed Rate Field. The White Sox have played more games on the road, but it’s incredible that in 16 home games Abreu still hasn’t homered.
José Abreu this season
Home (16 games): .281/.379/.333, 0 HR, 6 RBI
Road (27 games): .274/.311/.584, 9 HR, 18 RBI— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 24, 2017
In White Sox history, Abreu’s current road homer streak to start a season ranks as second longest. Tom Paciorek hit 11 home runs in 1982, and they all came on the road.
Most consecutive road HR to start a season, #WhiteSox history
11 Tom Paciorek, 1982 (only 11 HR of season)
9 JOSÉ ABREU, 2017
8 Five tied— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 24, 2017
So, has Abreu always had more success hitting home runs away from Chicago since he signed with the White Sox before the 2014 season? Not at all. From 2014-16, Abreu clubbed 46 home runs at home and 45 on the road.
Anyway, Abreu also became the third Cuban-born player to hit at least 100 or more home runs in his first four MLB seasons.
José Abreu: 100th career HR; 3rd Cuban-born player with 100+ HR in 1st 4 career seasons (José Canseco 111, Yoenis Céspedes 106)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 24, 2017
Although Abreu hasn’t found the power stroke at home this year, he’s on pace to hit the most home runs after four seasons for any Cuban-born player.
💯 for José! pic.twitter.com/iMWxTbb2aR
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 24, 2017
