| Wilyer Abreu | |
|---|---|
| Abreu with the Boston Red Sox in 2024 | |
| Boston Red Sox – No. 52 | |
| Right fielder | |
| Born:June 24, 1999 Maracaibo, Venezuela | |
Bats: Left Throws: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 22, 2023, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics (through 2025 season) | |
| Batting average | .256 |
| Home runs | 39 |
| Runs batted in | 141 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Wilyer David Abreu (born June 24,1999) is a Venezuelan professional baseball right fielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
On July 2,2017,Abreu signed with the Houston Astros as an international free agent. [1] He made his professional debut that year with the Dominican Summer League Astros. [2] Abreu spent the 2018 season with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Astros,playing in 41 games and batting .223/.310/.302 with 16 RBI and eight stolen bases. [3]
Abreu advanced to Single–A in 2019,splitting the year between the Quad Cities River Bandits and the Low-A Tri-City ValleyCats. In 59 appearances for the two affiliates,he hit a combined .255/.326/.365 with two home runs,13 RBI,and six stolen bases. [4] Abreu did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [5]
Abreu returned to action in 2021 with the High-A Asheville Tourists,slashing .268/.363/.495 with 16 home runs,50 RBI,and 10 stolen bases across 82 appearances. [6] He began the 2022 season with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks,batting .249/.399/.459 with 15 home runs,54 RBI,and 23 stolen bases over 89 games. [2]
On August 1,2022,the Astros traded Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez to the Boston Red Sox for Christian Vázquez. [7] He made 40 appearances for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs,batting .242/.399/.375 with four home runs,19 RBI,and eight stolen bases. On November 15,the Red Sox added Abreu to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. [8] In 2022,Abreu played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League and posted a .167/.275/.204 slash line with 18 strikeouts in 54 at-bats. [9]
In a spring training game in early March 2023,Abreu suffered a left hamstring strain while running out a base hit against the Miami Marlins,following which Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he “will be out for a while.” [10] On March 11,he was optioned to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. On August 22,Abreu was promoted to the major leagues for the first time following an injury to Jarren Duran. [11] Abreu made his major-league debut that evening,in a game against the Houston Astros,and recorded his first MLB hit. [12] In late August,he spent time on the paternity list. [13] Overall,Abreu appeared in 28 major-league games,batting .316 with two home runs and 14 RBI. [14] In 86 Triple-A games with Worcester,he batted .274 with 22 home runs and 65 RBIs. [2] He was also named to the post-season Triple-A all-star team. [15]
Abreu spent the 2024 season with Boston,appearing in 132 games including 106 starts in right field. [14] For the season,he batted .253 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI. [14] Abreu was named the Fielding Bible Award winner among major-league right fielders, [16] and the Gold Glove Award winner at that position for the American League. [17]
Abreu hit two home runs on Opening Day in 2025,against the Texas Rangers. [18] He was the seventh player in Red Sox history to record a two-homer game on Opening Day. [19] Abreu hit two home runs on June 30,2025 against the Cincinnati Reds. His first home run of the night was an inside-the-park home run,and the second was a grand slam home run,the first grand slam of his career. He is the sixth player to hit an inside-the-park home run and a grand slam (separately) in a game,and the first since Roger Maris in 1958. [20] In 2025,Abreu appeared in 115 including 95 starts in right field [14] For the season,he batted .247 with 22 home runs and 69 RBI. [14] On November 2,Abreu was named the Rawlings Golden Glove winner among major-league right fielders. [21]
Abreu is married to Kelly Valera. [22] The couple's first child was born in August 2023. [13] [23] During spring training in 2025,Abreu and Valera had twins. [24]