{"id":117293,"date":"2026-03-30T21:43:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=117293"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:43:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:43:01","slug":"wilyer-abreu-hot-start-possible-answer-red-sox-power-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/30\/wilyer-abreu-hot-start-possible-answer-red-sox-power-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Outfielder&#8217;s Hot Start Could Mean an Answer to Power Issues for Red Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going into the 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox had <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/13\/three-biggest-questions-red-sox\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">plenty of issues to fix<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Power (and to an extent, run support) was a huge question mark, especially after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/15\/sf-giants-acquire-rafael-devers-red-sox\/\" target=\"_self\">trading<\/a> the only 30\/100 contender on the team in <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/deverra01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rafael Devers<\/span><\/a> last season<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. After this past weekend, the series against the Cincinnati Reds showed that Boston still has some issues. But power and run support aren\u2019t part of the problem so far, and a major factor in that area is right fielder <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/abreuwi02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wilyer Abreu<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBmiPXwbQm\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 6240px; aspect-ratio: 6240\/4160;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2><b>Is Wilyer Abreu the Answer to Recent Red Sox Power Issues?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discussion of the search for Boston\u2019s power bats has been ongoing even before Devers left. The last 30-homer guy for the Sox was <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/oneilty01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tyler O\u2019Neill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2024. The last time multiple guys achieved that stat for Boston was 2021, with Devers and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/renfrhu01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hunter Renfroe<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It is possible that someone in the lineup could cross this threshold again, especially with all eyes on a huge breakout from <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoro01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roman Anthony<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But some, including<\/span> manager <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/coraal01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alex Cora<\/span><\/a>,<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have said that Abreu has the potential to be Boston&#8217;s main source of power this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And after seeing his March thus far, it\u2019s not impossible to believe <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/boston-red-sox\/news\/alex-cora-makes-stance-clear-wilyer-abreus-hot-start-2026-red-sox\/2d405675401253979baef4cd\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cora\u2019s claim<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Even looking at last year, he started off hot in the first few games. For comparison, through the first three games each season:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2025: 6-for-9 (.667 AVG), two home runs, five RBI<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2026: 6-for-13 (.462 AVG), two home runs, four RBI<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both seasons had very good starts, and both seasons coincidentally finished with the same result; Boston started 1-2 on the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>A Hot Start to the Season<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, Abreu\u2019s hot start in 2026 not only imitated last year\u2019s start, but also his heroics in the recent World Baseball Classic. For those who didn\u2019t watch earlier this month, Abreu played for Venezuela. In the semifinals, they went up against Japan, the defending champions. Down 5-4 in the sixth inning, Abreu <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">crushed the go-ahead<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> three-run homer to put them up 7-5, which would also end up being the game-winning homer in Venezuela\u2019s 8-5 victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WILYER ABREU<br \/>\nTHREE-RUN HOME RUN<br \/>\nTEAM VENEZUELA TAKES THE LEAD \ud83c\uddfb\ud83c\uddea <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9ovv3fluF6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/9ovv3fluF6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WBCBaseball\/status\/2033018537975886328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This relates to the current day because on Saturday, the Red Sox struggled in a game that had no shortage of headlines. But in the ninth inning with two outs, they found themselves down by one run. Abreu stepped up to the plate and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hit the game-tying homer<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to send them to extra innings. Boston would unfortunately lose in 11 innings, but Abreu\u2019s heroics from earlier in the month continued. It also showed proof that he can be a source of power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WILYER ABREU NEVER WANTS MARCH TO END \ud83d\ude33 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ya60PKXxYq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Ya60PKXxYq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB (@MLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLB\/status\/2038031613905305837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, it is entirely possible this is just a hot start. The same exact thing happened last season, and things will calm down eventually. There\u2019s also no guarantee that he\u2019ll stay healthy, as he missed 47 games last year. It\u2019s a long season, and anything can happen. Anthony could go on a hot streak and overtake Abreu as that guy, or it could be neither of them. But as of right now, Cora and the Red Sox may have their answer in terms of their 30\/100 guy in Abreu.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Going into the 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox had plenty of issues to fix. Power (and to an extent, run support) was a huge question mark, especially after trading the only 30\/100 contender on the team in Rafael Devers last season. After this past weekend, the series against the Cincinnati Reds showed that Boston [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5767,"featured_media":110484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1071,35],"tags":[1734,1025,1535,28596,1978,28456],"class_list":["post-117293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redsox","category-mlb","category-news","tag-alex-cora","tag-hunter-renfroe","tag-rafael-devers","tag-roman-anthony","tag-tyler-oneill","tag-wilyer-abreu"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117293"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117350,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117293\/revisions\/117350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}