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Adam Eaton is trying to make up for lost time with a more productive second half to this season.

The 26-year-old White Sox center fielder and leadoff hitter is batting .302 with 32 runs scored in 42 second-half games. He has raised his season batting average from .245 to .264 and he is now one of 11 leadoff hitters in Sox history to hit 10-plus homers in a season.

The energetic Eaton, who hit .300 last season and was a Gold Glove finalist, attributes his turnaround to better recognition of what pitchers have plotted for him. Some critics concluded his first-half struggles were the result of him trying too hard after receiving a lucrative five-year contract in May.

Eaton balks at that notion.

“It doesn’t matter what I make,” he said. “You can give me $100 million and I would play the same way. … I go out there and compete my butt off and I work the same as I have the last 20 years of my life.”

But when a team falls short of expectations as the Sox have this season, players are bound to catch some grief.

“I feel like I got a lot more boos this year,” he said. “Because (fans) think I am making more money, they feel like I have to hit .1000. It’s just not easy to do and the expectations went through the roof early on.”

Eaton is receiving $850,000 this season and is set to make $2.75 million in 2016, $4 million in 2017, $6 million in 2018 and $8.4 million in 2019. The contract has two club options at $9.5 million for 2020 and $10.5 million for 2021, with a $1.5 million buyout if either option is declined.

“I realized I can’t make everybody happy in the stands, and I can’t hit .1000 in this league,” he said. “I just have to grind at-bats out to be successful. I think I turned the corner as well there.”

Manager Robin Ventura said he appreciates Eaton’s second-half rebound and added focus.

Eaton, who was a 19th-round draft pick of the Diamondbacks from Miami of Ohio in 2010, was acquired by the White Sox in a Dec. 10, 2013, three-team trade that also included the Angels.

He said experience has given him a better understanding of the game.

“I become a better hitter when I can see pitchers again and I get familiar with what they are trying to do to me and make adjustments early on,” Eaton said. “I learn a lot with my eyes and how my body feels when I swing. That’s the moral of the story of why I have had more success in the second half.”

Eaton is hitting .303 with eight doubles, one triple, three homers and 15 RBIs over his last 37 games. He has been by a pitch 11 times this season.

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“How come every time I square to bunt, all of a sudden I am target practice? But I will take hit by pitches all day,” he said.

Eaton hit .311 in the final two months of last season and said, “Hopefully I continue in that direction.”

“We have to get the average up a little bit,” he said. “The strikeouts need to get a little lower, and continue to walk. If we can focus on that, I can do the job at the top of the order.”

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Twitter @kicker34