BOSTON — Red Sox’ Wilyer Abreu crushed a 95.3 mph fastball from Nationals starter Jake Irvin 400 feet with a 106.5 mph exit velocity into the right field stands Saturday. His impressive rookie season continued in Boston’s 4-2 win over Washington at Fenway Park.
The 24-year-old right fielder has the third best odds (+650) at the moment to win AL Rookie of the Year, according to DraftKings. Only Orioles left fielder Colton Cowser (+120) and Rangers left fielder Evan Carter (+330) have better odds.
Is the award something Abreu is thinking about? Is winning it one of his goals?
“No, not really,” Abreu said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez before Saturday’s game. “To be honest with you, I just want to do my job. I just want to help the team win. At the end of the year, if the numbers are there and everything is there, I would welcome that. But it’s not a goal for me to win Rookie of the Year. Obviously I would welcome that.”
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Abreu is second among AL rookies in fWAR (1.2) behind only Cowser (1.3). He has been an above average defender with five defensive runs saved in 208 ⅓ innings in right field.
“You have to be very focused here,” he said about playing defense in the majors. “I’m trying to not make any mental or physical errors. But I feel like when you put the work in, the results are going to come. And that’s what I’m trying to do.
“Obviously Fenway Park is one of the most difficult right fields I’ve ever played,” Abreu added. “You have to be focused. You have to know the dimensions and also you have to be quick in that first step. And that for me has been the key.”
Abreu is batting .284 with a .378 on-base percentage, .480 slugging percentage, .858 OPS, three homers, nine doubles, one triple, 14 RBIs, 18 runs, five steals, 16 walks and 32 strikeouts in 33 games (119 plate appearances). He’s known for being very disciplined. He is in the 91st percentile among major league hitters in walk percentage (13.4%).
“I’m focused on one zone and one area of that strike zone,” Abreu said. “I’m looking for a pitch that I can do damage with. If that pitch is not in that area, in that zone, I just let it go.”
He walked in 14.7% of his 1,786 plate appearances in the minors.
“I think in the past, I swung at pitches I couldn’t do damage with and that produced weak contact,” Abreu said. “And I realized that is not a way for me to be productive for the team. So that’s something I’ve been learning throughout the years and with more experience. And what I’m focused on right now, as I said before, is try to get a pitch in the zone that I can do damage with. If it’s not there, I’ll let it go. But that’s something I learned throughout my minor league career.”
