CLEVELAND — A handful of young Red Sox have started slowly this season as part of a battered lineup. One player, though, has turned things around in a big way after struggling in both spring training and the first 10 days of the season
Wilyer Abreu was 8-for-63 (.127) with 26 strikeouts in exhibition play and didn’t look much better once Opening Day came, hitting .111 (2-for-18) with nine strikeouts and a .200 on-base percentage through April 10. In the two weeks since, though, the 24-year-old rookie outfielder has been an on-base machine. Through Tuesday, he has reached base safely in 11 straight games while going 13-for-36 (.361) with five doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and seven walks. His OBP in that span? It’s .465.
Abreu’s tear has resulted in his OPS rising from .311 (April 10) to .862 (now) in less than a dozen games. It’s no coincidence that after starting just four of Boston’s first 12 games in a crowded outfield mix, Abreu has taken off once given a chance to play every day. Since April 11, he has started 10 of 12 games, playing both left field and right field.
“We decided a week ago this guy’s gonna play against righties,” manager Alex Cora said. “We have to play him. There’s a reason he’s here. He’s a good defender, he’s a good baserunner. But he’s a good hitter. The more he plays, the better he feels.
“In spring training, I know he struggled a lot, but it was a 3-2 count, a 2-2 count. He fouled off a lot of pitches. The other thing, and I’m using it as excuse for him, is that he played a lot of (spring) games on the road. Sometimes, when you play a lot of games on the road in spring training, you don’t have a lot of time to work on your craft.
“Now, everything has been slowed down. You’ve got extra time to work on your swing and game-planning comes into play.”
After a strong showing in 28 games at the end of last season, Abreu projected to be Boston’s starting right fielder in 2024. Team chairman Tom Werner even went out of his way to say the club expected 400 plate appearances from the Venezuela native.
But when Opening Day came, it was Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Tyler O’Neill starting in the outfield with Masataka Yoshida as the designated hitter and Rob Refsnyder on the injured list. Now, with all six healthy, it’ll be difficult for Cora to mix everyone in on a daily basis, even with Rafaela moving to shortstop.
One thing’s certain, though: Abreu will start against right-handed starters. He has a .920 OPS in 128 major league plate appearances against righties. That upside can’t be dismissed in a lineup that will be without Trevor Story for the rest of the year and Triston Casas for weeks, if not months.
“He controls the strike zone really well,” Refsnyder said. “He has a great idea of what he wants to do. Picks his spots. Last year, we saw him picking his spots. Going six-hole if the ball gets deep. Other times, like the first game (in Pittsburgh), he hit the ball out of the stadium. Just really polished at-bats ... He plays like a veteran already.
“Whenever Willy’s in the lineup, it’s at-bats you want to watch just because they’re so professional. For us to do anything this year, he’s gonna be a big, big part of it. He’s fun to watch, honestly. He’s a younger guy, but I can learn a lot from him.”
Abreu struggled to find his swing throughout spring training but still reached base at a .286 clip because he walked 14 times. The strikeouts were an aberration in the mind of Cora and other Red Sox decision-makers. In 86 games at Triple-A in 2023, his first full season since coming over in the deadline deal that sent Christian Vázquez to Houston, he posted a .391 on-base percentage while walking 59 times in 363 plate appearance.
“He comes from an organization that, they preach that,” Cora said. “What they do in Houston from Day 1 you get there is to control the strike zone, control the strike zone ... That comes from there and he understands what he needs to do per at-bat to be consistent.”
In Abreu’s mind, seeing the ball well — and crushing it, on occasion — is a direct result of playing every day. At one point, it looked like there was a chance he’d be sent down to Triple-A Worcester once the outfield got to full strength. Quickly, he has emerged as a middle-of-the-order threat in the bigs.
“We made the adjustment. Day by day, when you get more at-bats, you are able to make some adjustments and that’s what I’ve been doing,” Abreu said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “I know I didn’t have the best start. I was trying to get out of that bad situation quickly. That’s what I’ve been doing the past few games.
“It obviously helps a lot to know you’re going to play every day. You get into a rhythm and that’s what you want. If I’m in that lineup, I’m going to be productive for the team.”
Abreu has also proven to be a capable defender in the corners. The Red Sox are confident in his arm in right field and Statcast shows he can run (65th percentile in sprint speed) and cover more ground (68th percentile in range) than his 5-foot-10, 215-pound frame would suggest.
“We’re gonna keep talking about this kid because he’s good,” Cora said. “His approach is really good. He understands what he needs to do at the plate to be successful. He’s a good defender. He’s a good baserunner. He’s a good player.”
