Jose Abreu is on fire - MLB

Jose Abreu has had a pretty darn nice couple of days.

On Saturday the White Sox’ first baseman hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with three RBI;
On Sunday he hit two homers, going 2-for-3, drawing a walk and driving in three;
Last night he fell a homer short of the cycle, walking in his final plate appearance instead, finishing the night 4-for-5 with two driven in.

Over those three games the White Sox have outscored their opponent, the Giants and Royals, 32-5. Abreu has upped his line from .295/.347/.531 to .306/.358/.564. That’s an OPS increase of .044, which is pretty dang impressive for three games.

All of this comes after he spent the latter half of last week worrying that his family and friends in Cuba were in danger from Hurricane Irma. Indeed, after his cycle on Saturday he said that he hadn’t slept well for days. He heard over the weekend, however, that his loved ones were safe, so perhaps this is what relief looks like.

Follow @craigcalcaterra

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”