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Jose Abreu release has woken up the exact player Astros were hoping it would

Houston's issues at first base have been made a lot easier to deal with their Jose Abreu replacement playing pretty well.
Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Climbing Tal's Hill

Tampa Bay Rays v Houston Astros / Bob Levey/GettyImages

The Houston Astros' release of Jose Abreu was more sad than anything else. Abreu came to the Astros with very lofty expectations, given his track record and the contract he received, but his body and Father Time had other plans. This wasn't a situation where a guy didn't care or didn't put in the work. Instead, Astros fans were forced to watch a guy that would have loved nothing more than to perform and just couldn't anymore, save for a clutch postseason stretch in 2023.

Unfortunately, the Astros couldn't afford to wait to see if Abreu could possibly figure things out, given how the 2024 season was going. That decision proved to be absolutely correct, because while many thought that Abreu's dismissal could mean Joey Loperfido would get the reins at first base, Houston stuck with Jon Singleton, who has been rewarding their faith for the last month.

Jon Singleton's hot streak has eased the Astros' first base transition

While Singleton's numbers overall this season, including while Abreu was in the minors trying to get back into form, are not overly impressive with a .693 OPS, this eagle-eyed Twitter/X user correctly noted that Singleton has been much better lately than his overall line shows. An .800 OPS over his last 19 games isn't world-beating production, but is extremely solid and definitely a lot more than what the Astros were getting out of Abreu. It sure hasn't hurt that Singleton's defense at first has gotten strong reviews.

However, let's not pretend like the Astros don't know with near certainty that Singleton probably can't keep this up. He struggled to start the season, and Singleton's track record in the majors points to him being more of a useful bench guy with upside rather than a guy who should be playing every day. Given that the Astros are very much looking for a first base upgrade at the trade deadline as we speak, Singleton's days as the everyday first baseman are likely numbered.

What we don't know is what Houston plans to do at first base in the long-term. Joey Loperfido is still somehow not getting as much playing time as he probably should and is a logical candidate, but the Astros don't seem to trust him at the position, whatever the reason may be. Most of the options Houston is considering at the trade deadline profile as short-term solutions, so perhaps the plan is for Loperfido to get more work during the offseason at first before getting the everyday spot.

Whatever the Astros' future plans are, they have been very fortunate that Singleton's hot streak bought them some time to actually plan ahead instead of being forced to make more changes on the fly.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.