Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, who pushed his hitting streak to 20 games Thursday afternoon, is just the second player in the last 65 years with multiple 18-game streaks during his rookie season, per Lee Sinins‘ Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. Abreu joins Ichiro Suzuki, who racked up hitting streaks of 23 and 21 games on his way to winning the American League MVP award as a rookie in 2001.
Per the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia (via GammonsDaily.com), Abreu is also the first White Sox player—rookie or not—to have collected two such streaks in the same season since Eddie Collins did so in 1920.
Over the course of his first 18-game streak—lasting from June 15 to July 4—Abreu registered 24 hits in 71 at-bats (.338 batting average), with eight home runs, 18 RBI and an impressive 1.100 OPS.
This second time around, Abreu’s run started July 6, just a day after his earlier streak ended. Over the course of the ongoing 20-game hitting streak, the slugging Cuban has 33 hits in 80 at-bats (.407 BA), albeit with somewhat modest totals of four home runs and 14 RBI. That said, 10 of his 33 hits have been doubles, contributing to a 1.153 OPS.
Set to challenge a slew of rookie records, Abreu has already joined Nomar Garciaparra (1997) as the only rookies in MLB history to record both 30 home runs and a hitting streak of 20-plus games, per STATS on Twitter.
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