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As a White Sox fan if you're tired of the draft position race and need something else to root for in the season's final two weeks, pay attention to the Silver Slugger battle at first base. At the All-Star game, Jose Abreu was behind Justin Smoak, Yonder Alonso, and Logan Morrison in offensive performance. Making Abreu be a fan at the festivities instead of a participant. After a good but not great start to 2017, Jose Abreu has emerged back to his 2014 play in the second half hitting .320/.374/.606 since the All-Star game with a 152 wRC+.
That rapid rise has pushed Abreu to pass Smoak, Alonso, and Morrison in overall offensive performance season to date. After Saturday's game, Abreu ranks high in all of the AL first baseman offensive categories:
Average: 2nd
On-Base Percentage: 7th
Slugging: 1st
wRC+: 1st
Home Runs: 4th
RBI: 1st
Doubles: 1st
Triples: 1st
Runs: 1st
Hits: 2nd
These rankings build a great resume for Abreu to earn his second career Silver Slugger award. However, Abreu has stiff competition with Kansas City's, Eric Hosmer.
Eric Hosmer vs. Jose Abreu
| Off. Category | Eric Hosmer | Jose Abreu |
|---|---|---|
| Off. Category | Eric Hosmer | Jose Abreu |
| Batting Avg. | 0.324 | 0.307 |
| OBP | 0.390 | 0.359 |
| Slugging | 0.509 | 0.556 |
| wRC+ | 138 | 140 |
| wOBA | 0.383 | 0.380 |
| ISO | 0.187 | 0.250 |
| BABIP | 0.359 | 0.333 |
| wRAA | 32.3 | 31.4 |
| Hits | 180 | 177 |
| Runs | 89 | 90 |
| Doubles | 29 | 38 |
| Triples | 1 | 6 |
| Home Runs | 24 | 31 |
| RBI | 87 | 95 |
| Walks | 62 | 33 |
| Strikeouts | 99 | 110 |
The differences with the advanced metrics are very slim and demonstrate a difference in approach. Hosmer is displaying decent power with a high contact rate, while Abreu is slugging his way to the top while sprinkling in some singles here and there. Even though the Silver Slugger is awarded to the best offensive player at each position, trying to use WAR to break a tie is fruitless.
Hosmer vs. Abreu WAR
| Player | bWAR | fWAR | WARP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | bWAR | fWAR | WARP |
| Jose Abreu | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| Eric Hosmer | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
Hosmer has more to play for than Abreu as the Royals are still trying to make it in the postseason, and he's trying to parlay this season to a big payday in free agency. One can only imagine how many extra millions super agent Scott Boras would add to Hosmer's price tag if he earns the honor, which would be his first. Perhaps those two things will help him rise his game and pass Abreu in more offensive categories.
Which, at the moment, Hosmer will need to do because Abreu should have the slight advantage thanks to being the best slugging AL first baseman. When Abreu won the award in 2014, he won the slash line triple crown for AL first baseman and almost the standard triple crown with only Miguel Cabrera driving in two more runs (Cabrera: 109 RBI / Abreu: 107 RBI). Those numbers made it a slam dunk decision in Abreu's favor, but if he wants to win the honor for the second time, he'll need to continue his strong second-half surge to withstand Hosmer.