The Houston Astros felt they were getting one of the most consistent sluggers in Major League Baseball when they signed 1st baseman Jose Abreu to a free agent contract after the end of the 2022 season. However, Abreu has yet to hit a home run this season, and his long ball drought is the worst of his career.

Houston hitting coach Alex Cintron still believes in Abreu, saying that the hitter is in a slump, but once he starts to hit the long ball again, he will likely go on a long hot streak.

The hitting coach does not believe that Abreu has slowed down at the age of 36. “I’m not worried. This guy has hit his whole life. I feel like it’s something mechanical. When he fixes that everything is gonna change.”

In addition to the mechanical change that may be needed to fix Abreu's swing and current lack of power, the other issue could be getting used to his surroundings. He played 9 years on the South Side of Chicago with the White Sox, and now he has moved on to the defending World Series champions. Abreu has played with pressure before, but it is clear that it has been ratcheted up in the new environment.

Abreu is currently slashing .243/.276/.279 and he has 11 runs batted in. His numbers during the 2022 season were not as good as they had been in previous years as he hit 15 home runs and drove in 75 runs while slashing .304/.378/.446.

Jose Abreu has hit 30 home runs or more 4 times in his career. He has earned a Most Valuable Player Award, Rookie of the Year honors and has been an American League All-Star 3 times.