José Dariel Abreu Correa

Baseball Player from Cienfuegos (Baseball Team). Known as Pito Abreu.

He developed as a baseball player under the direction and guidance of experienced Cuban coaches who made him a good athlete. He has participated in 11 editions of the National Baseball Series, the first one he played in he was only 15 years old. He is a leader in home runs, RBIs, offensive average and slugging in the L National Baseball Series; in the LI National Baseball Series, he has stood out by hitting his 27th home run on March 31, 2012.

He was born in Mal Tiempo, Cruces, Cienfuegos. From a young age he has been drawn to baseball. He has a good physique for this sport, measuring 1.90 meters and weighing 113 kilograms.

He lives in the village of the former Mal Tiempo sugar mill in Cruces and has a family with whom he shares his free time and a young son named Dariel Eduardo.

Other aspects of his life

In his free time he likes to listen to music, especially by Álvaro Torres, watch Los muñequitos, especially Rayo McQueen, with his son Dariel Eduardo and spend time with his family. His favorite book is the Bible; he believes in God. His favorite food is pork, in any of its varieties.[2].

Sports career

At seven years old, encouraged by his father who was a baseball player, he participated in the National School and Youth Games, playing primarily at first base and shortstop. His first trip abroad was with the eleven and twelve division to Colombia, in a school championship.

In the LI National Series he finished second in home runs, one behind the record set by Alfredo Despaigne and was included in the offensive "All Stars" of the year as the best first baseman[3].

In the first phase of the LI National Baseball Series in batting statistics he was the home run leader with 13 and best slugging (.735), and in fielding with the most outs made (452) and the highest total of throws (495).

2013

He was part of the Cuba Team that represented Cuba in the III World Baseball Classic held in March 2013, where the team did not reach the semifinals, but he remained in the All Stars roster in individual batting, among the leaders in RBIs and home runs hit, he shared the home run leadership with Alfredo Despaigne, batted for a .360 average, was second in RBIs with nine and had an on-base average of .385 and slugging of .760.

He was selected to participate in the All-Star Game of the LII National Baseball Series, which took place on March 24, 2013 at José Antonio Huelga Stadium in Santi Spíritus, where the Western team he represented defeated the Eastern team.

He was part of Team Cuba that participated in the XIV Rotterdam Baseball Tournament, held in Holland from June 30 to July 7, 2013, where Cuba reclaimed the title by defeating Holland in the final game.

In August of this year he leaves the island of Cuba and establishes his residence in Haiti to begin playing in the Major Leagues. In October he was presented as a new player for the Chicago White Sox after signing a contract worth 68 million dollars.

Home run hitter José Dariel Abreu achieved in October 2013 the largest international free agent contract in the Major Leagues, signing with the Chicago White Sox for six years and 68 million dollars, less than two months after leaving the Island of Cuba.

The Cienfuegos native, the most important figure in Cuban baseball who left Cuba in 2013, batted .345 average, with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs, in only 264 at-bats in the last National Series. His best season was 2010-2011, when he batted .453, with 33 home runs and 93 RBIs in just 66 games.

Major League Baseball

2013 Season

In August 2013 he leaves his country and establishes his residence in Haiti. In October he was presented as a new player for the Chicago White Sox, after signing a contract for six seasons and 68 million dollars, joining his compatriots Alexei Ramírez, Dayan Viciedo and Adrián Nieto.

2014 Season

He made his debut with the White Sox on March 31, facing the Minnesota Twins. On April 8 he hit his first two home runs. On the 25th he achieved his eighth home run, tying the record for a rookie in March/April home runs. In that same game he set the record for home runs by a rookie in the first month. Two days later he broke the rookie record for RBIs in April with 31, and extended the rookie home run record to 10 in April. For his performance, Abreu was awarded the American League Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month for April. He received both awards multiple times throughout the season.

He participated in the 85th edition of the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game.

At the end of the season he had surpassed the 30 home runs and 100 RBIs mark (107 and 36). His average rose to .317, with a .581 slugging percentage.

He received the American League Rookie of the Year award, a distinction achieved by only three other Cubans: Tony Oliva in 1964, José Canseco in 1986 and José Fernández in 2013.

He also received the Silver Slugger award and placed fourth in the voting for MVP.

2015 Season

For the second consecutive year he surpassed the 30 home runs and 100 RBIs mark (101 and 30), joining Albert Pujols as the only players to achieve more than 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in their first two seasons. At the same time, he is the 12th player in MLB to drive in 100 or more in his first two campaigns. His offensive average at the end of the season was .290, unusual for a slugger like him, his OBP .347, .502 SLG and WAR: 3.8.

He was #21 in the MVP race. He showed stability as a batter. He was eighth in hits (178) and RBIs in the league. He improved his defense from (-2.0 in 2014) to -0.9 in 2015.

2016 Season

He surpassed the 100 RBIs and 25 home runs mark (100 and 25) in his first three years in MLB. Again he achieved an excellent offensive average; he finished the season batting .293.

2017 Season

For the fourth consecutive year he surpassed the 100 RBIs and 25 home runs mark (102 and 33) in MLB, joining Joe DiMaggio (1936-39) and Albert Pujols (2001-10) as the only batters with 25 home runs and 100 RBIs in their first four years.

He became the fifth baseball player with 100 RBIs in his first four campaigns, along with DiMaggio (1936-42), Pujols (2001-10), Al Simmons (1924-34) and Ted Williams (1939-42).

He finished the campaign with a .304 average, on-base of .354, slugging of .552, with 138 runs created and 343 total bases.

2018 Season

He achieved excellent numbers early in this season. Between games 13 and 19 he put together a streak of seven consecutive games with at least one hit. In those latest matchups he batted .400 average, with 12 hits in 30 official at-bats, including a double and three home runs. At that point he was batting .308 average for the entire season (78-24), had reached his ninth game with four or more hits in his entire MLB career and the twelfth occasion when he hit two or more home runs. He also compiled three doubles, six home runs, 12 RBIs, 12 runs scored, three walks and 13 strikeouts. His OPS was .949.

2019
The Cuban rose to seventh place on the list of island baseball players with the most home runs in history. With this he surpassed outfielder Yoenis Céspedes who, due to his inactivity on the field, remained at 164 home runs. These four home runs by Pito made his 18th of the season with which he ties Yasmani Grandal for second place among Cubans in 2019. First place is held by Kansas City outfielder Jorge Soler who has hit 21. Also in that game he hit his 200th career double.
2019: .254/.302/.513 15HR/49 RBI

Accolades

2004 – Set a record for rookies by batting hits consecutively in 31 games in N.S.
2009 – Runner-up in the World Baseball Cup.
2010 – Champion of the Intercontinental Baseball Cup of Taipei, China.
2010 – College World Champion. He was part of the "All Stars" of the event.
2011 – Finished as leader in home runs, RBIs, offensive average and slugging of the 50 N.S.
2012 – Part of the offensive "All Stars" of the 51 N.S. as the best first baseman.
2013 – Part of the All Stars of the III World Baseball Classic.
2013 – Champion of the XIV Rotterdam Baseball Tournament.
2014 – American League Rookie of the Year (MLB).