Barely a year removed from being traded to the Boston Red Sox from the Houston Astros, Wilyer Abreu has a chance to make his MLB debut, after being called up from Triple-A Worcester. He will replace Jarren Duran on the active roster, who will be placed on the IL with a toe contusion.
The 23-year-old outfielder is back in Houston for the first time since being traded to the Red Sox in a deal that sent him, and Enmanuel Valdez to Boston in exchange for catcher Christian Vazquez at the MLB trade deadline last season.
Wilyer Abreu has had a monster season for Triple-A Worcester
Abreu's promotion comes after a monster season with the WooSox, where he hit .450 with seven home runs, and 18 RBI in his first 11 games to start out the month of August. All in all, it has been a great year for Abreu in general too. He has an overall batting average of .274 with 22 home runs, and 65 RBI. He also has 11 doubles, a career-high ops of .929.
On top of his offensive numbers, his defensive numbers are nothing to sneeze at either. In 80 games in the field, he has a 10:2 outfield assist to error ratio, and a .993 fielding percentage in the outfield to boot.
Abreu looks to add to an already stout Boston lineup that has been very strong throughout the year, but also add some power to it. While he does have some speed, and versatility (in that he can play all three outfield spots), the power is, perhaps, what Red Sox fans are most looking forward to in Abreu.
When the Red Sox first called up Valdez he made an immediate impact, and it was tough for fans to see him get sent back to down to Triple-A when he was ultimately not needed at the big league-level. Fans are hoping for a bit of the same from Abreu.