(670 The Score) White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu recently joined elite company in franchise history with his run production.
Abreu's two RBIs in a win against the Cubs this past Sunday got him to the 100-RBI mark for the sixth time in his eight-year MLB career. Abreu is now one of just three players in White Sox history with six seasons of 100 RBIs or more, with Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko being the others.
Abreu reaching that mark also sparked an external discussion of the RBI statistic – just how much does that counting number mean in an analytically driven game in which rate stats are heavily relied upon?
In Abreu's mind, a lot. After all, you have to score to win and someone has to drive them in. So in his mind, RBIs should continue to be heavily valued.
"I respect the opinion of all the people that think that way about the RBI (being devalued)," Abreu said. "The game is all about scoring runs. To score runs, someone has to drive those runs in. I really disagree with them about that (RBIs not being as important). I respect them and their opinion, but I have my own philosophy about the game. You win games by scoring runs."
Abreu, who's hitting .263 with 28 homers, 128 RBIs and an .843 OPS this season, expanded further on his mindset and art of run production.
"My approach with men on base is to just battle," he said. "The mindset is to get that run in. If you are batting in the middle of the lineup, that must be your mindset in those situations."
