Wilyer Abreu

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Wilyer Abreu.jpg

Wilyer David Abreu

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 215 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Outfielder Wilyer Abreu reached the majors with the Boston Red Sox late in the 2023 season. He was originally signed as an international amateur free agent from Venezuela by the Houston Astros on July 2, 2017, but was traded to Boston on August 1, 2022 as part of the trade for C Christian Vazquez; the Red Sox also received IF Enmanuel Valdez in the deal for their long-time starting backstop.

Wilyer was playing in AA with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Texas League when he was traded to Boston and finished the 2022 season with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League. He combined to hit .247/.399/.435 in 129 games between the two teams, with 29 doubles, 19 homers and 73 RBIs. In 2023, he began the year in AAA with the Worcester Red Sox and hit .274/.391/.539 in 86 games, with 22 homers and 65 RBIs to earn his first call-up. In Boston, he hit .316 in 28 games. After just 3 games with Worcester in 2024, he secured a regular job in Boston, playing mainly in right field for a team that did a lot better than expected. He had his first multi-homer game on August 4th in a 7-2 win against the Texas Rangers and it was a special occasion: it came the day after his beloved grandmother had passed away in Venezuela, and he dedicated his performance to her. He played 132 games that year and hit .253 with 33 doubles, 15 homers and 58 RBIs; his OPS+ 114. He won a Gold Glove as the best-fielding right fielder in the American League, and finished 6th in the voting for the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year Award while being named to the 2024 MLB All-Rookie Team.

He was the hero for the Red Sox in their Opening Day win over the Texas Rangers on March 27, 2025, as he homered twice, including a dramatic three-run homer in the 9th inning, and drove in 4 runs in a 5-2 win. That came after a tough spring training in which he was felled by a stomach virus, and then went just 1 for 20 at the plate after returning to the line-up. He had another multi-homer game on May 7th, and it again came against the Rangers in a 6-4 win; in fact, in a strange coincidence, all three of his two-homer games to that point had come against Texas. On June 30th, he had a two-homer game against another team, the Cincinnati Reds, and he managed to also achieve an extremely rare feat as the first was an inside-the-park homer to the deepest part of Fenway Park and the second was a grand slam - the first of his career. He was only the sixth player in major league history to achieve that combination in one game, and the first since Roger Maris had done it in 1958 - when he was still a member of the Kansas City Athletics! He was also the first Red Sox player to hit an inside-the-parker at Fenway since Jacoby Ellsbury in 2011 as Boston won the game by a score of 13-6.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Ian Browne: "Mourning grandmother, Wilyer hits 2 HRs: 'I was playing for her'", mlb.com, August 4, 2024. [1]
  • Ian Browne: "Abreu honors twin sons, powers Sox with pair of HRs on Opening Day", mlb.com, March 27, 2025. [2]
  • Ian Browne: "Abreu joins Maris with inside-the-park HR, slam in same game", mlb.com July 1, 2025. [3]
  • Michael Clair: "This is the only Rookie of the Year candidate you want cutting your hair", mlb.com, September 21, 2024. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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