Verducci v. Abreu?

Tom Verducci has criticized the Yankees' acquisition of Bobby Abreu:

Abreu has hit five home runs on the road since the 2005 All-Star break. His slugging percentage has gotten worse with every month this season (.550, .471, .404, .313). Yankees fans will chafe at his penchant for not going all-out for balls in right field, especially anything remotely close to the walls, and for his refusal to hit aggressively in run-scoring situations. It should be alarming that Abreu has whiffed once in every three at-bats in close and late situations (20 in 61 at-bats) while hitting .230. He's the kind of hitter who is happy with a walk in run-scoring situations, which sometimes leads to looking at third strikes.

While Abreu's numbers have been declining, he's not the complete choke artist Verducci describes. He cites 61 at bats close and late and says Abreu wimps out in "run-scoring situations." Abreu is batting .286 / .429 / .440 and those numbers all get better with runners on, with runners in scoring position, and with runners on and 2 outs.