Wilyer Abreu talks about his breakout season and what it took to achieve it
“I’ve been working a lot for this, and I think I deserve it.”
Wilyer Abreu stared into the eyes of Buffalo Bisons pitcher Matt Wisler. He stood firm in the batters’ box with his bat held high, ready for whatever Wisler would throw at him next. He had no choice but to be. Wisler had already bested Abreu twice in that at-bat with two strikes. One more and he would be called for Worcester’s second out of the sixth inning, losing the chance to send teammate Enmanuel Valdez home from second base.
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But that pressure didn’t mean much to Abreu. The left fielder was the hottest hitter at Polar Park, having already hit two home runs in that August 13 game. The scorecard showed that if there was anyone who could get out of a jam such as this, it was him.
He kept his bat held high and waited for Wisler to throw his pitch. And within a few seconds, Wisler hurled the ball to home plate.
And Abreu smacked the ball into the sky.
“That’s gotta go,” Abreu thought to himself as he left the plate. “That’s gonna be gone.”
It was gone. It sailed out of Polar Park for Abreu’s third home run of the game, a milestone that no player in the history of the Worcester Red Sox had ever done before.
“That’s my first time hitting three homers in a game,” Abreu told Boston.com, “So that made me so happy.”
Those three home runs helped Abreu add another accomplishment to his résumé. A day later, he was named Triple-A’s International League Player of the Week for Aug. 7-13, becoming the first WooSox player to do so this season. And just like his prior feat, this one was a brand new achievement for him.
“I think that’s my first time being named player of the week,” Abreu said, “And I think that’s the first time in my career too. And so, I mean, I was excited.”
It wasn’t just the home runs that won him this award. The Red Sox’ No. 17 overall prospect batted .519 with 16 RBIs that week (.274/.391/.538 with 65 RBIs for the season as of Monday). That stellar week rapidly shifted Abreu into the minor league limelight, but the sudden success and praise doesn’t overwhelm him. In his eyes, it just means that all of his hard work is paying off and he’s getting what he’s due.
“I’ve been working a lot for this, and I think I deserve it,” Abreu said. “[I’m] just enjoying it, and I’m happy.”
Hard work is all Abreu knows. It’s been all he’s known since he was just a little kid in Maracaibo, Venezuela, imitating at-bats by hitting rocks with sticks in his backyard. A passion for baseball was starting to develop in young Abreu, and his godmother noticed. She signed him up for little league, and he later went to a baseball academy when he was 14. At that point, there was no doubt as to what Abreu wanted to do for a living.
“I started to train like a professional,” Abreu said. “And I knew it, like, ‘I want to be a professional baseball player,’ so then I started to think about that and work for it.’”
Abreu’s dream would start to come true in July 2017, when he signed a contract to play in the Houston Astros’ system. But the Astros were not the first MLB organization Abreu agreed to play for. It was actually the Red Sox who were supposed to sign him a year prior, but MLB banned Boston from signing international prospects that season after the team violated rules regarding signing bonuses.
The Red Sox initially lost out on their guy, but they weren’t going to give up. Abreu had grown close with Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero the year he was supposed to move to Boston. When Abreu packed his bags for Houston, Romero made a joke to him that ended up a prophecy.
“When I signed with the Astros,” Abreu said, “[Romero] told me, ‘Hey, keep working, keep doing your things, and at some point, you’re gonna get traded to Boston.”
And he was. Abreu was traded to the Boston Red Sox along with Valdez in exchange for Christian Vazquez on Aug. 1, 2022. This came as a surprise to Abreu. He did not expect to be traded that year, especially to the team that joked about trading for him all those years ago.
“I didn’t know that he was going to do the things that he told me,” Abreu said. “But he did, so I’m very happy to be here.”
Abreu’s family back in Venezuela is just as happy as he is. His parents regularly tune into his games to watch their son whenever he steps up to bat. Even though he lives thousands of miles away from them, he always feels their pride and presence.
“They always watch my games and they are very proud of me because they know how tough [it] is,” Abreu said. “They’re excited for me and I hope they can come to see me play here.”
At some point in the future, Abreu wants to bring his family to the United States, his new home. He said he has grown very comfortable in Massachusetts and he acknowledges how well the Red Sox treat him. Abreu feels at home in Worcester, and he does not want to play for another team until he gets called up to Boston.
“They treat me good,” Abreu said of both Massachusetts and his organization. “And I don’t want to go anywhere else.”
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