We’ve been listening to all season about a few of Boston’s high prospects. Ceddanne Rafaela recurrently went viral for one spectacular defensive play or one other. Roman Anthony put the baseball world on discover together with his breakout summer season. Everyone’s consistently holding tabs on Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel barely wanted a month to place his stamp on the group.
Yet the prospect who is likely to be finest positioned to make an impression on subsequent 12 months’s crew might change into Wilyer Abreu.
Acquired alongside Enmanuel Valdez in final summer season’s Christian Vazquez commerce, the 24-year-old outfielder quietly put collectively a spectacular season in Triple-A and has drawn rave evaluations since being referred to as as much as the large leagues on Aug. 22. Red Sox supervisor Alex Cora steadily speaks about him in glowing phrases, and he’s gotten extra taking part in time since being referred to as up than both Rafaela or Valdez, each of whom have typically held the next profile.
“We knew about the strike zone, we knew about the compact swing, that’s where the league is going,” Cora mentioned of Abreu again on Sept. 10. “He’s able to go the other way, which is important, he’s a good baserunner. At the end we got two good players for Christian, I know at the beginning it didn’t look that way but they’re really good.”
Though not thought-about a high 100 prospect, Abreu boasts a well-rounded skillset with a handful of elite instruments, and his efficiency on the sector over the previous two years has been spectacular. Last season Abreu was certainly one of solely 5 gamers throughout the minors to attract greater than 100 walks, and he additionally hit 19 residence runs and stole 31 bases. This 12 months his pace hasn’t been as massive an element, however he nonetheless hit 22 residence runs with a .930 OPS in 86 video games with the WooSox, his first season taking part in at Triple-A.
He was additionally voted as having the perfect strike zone judgment and outfield arm power within the International League by the Triple-A league’s managers, based on Baseball America.
So far the majors haven’t confirmed too massive an adjustment for Abreu both. In 20 video games since his promotion Abreu has batted .364 with a .945 OPS, a house run and 5 doubles, 10 RBI and three stolen bases. He’s already reached base 5 or extra instances in a recreation twice, and he’s performed nicely defensively in any respect three outfield positions.
Is it loopy to think about Abreu going into subsequent season as certainly one of Boston’s beginning outfielders?
One of the large questions the Red Sox must reply this offseason is how you can proceed with Alex Verdugo. The proper fielder is getting into his final season earlier than hitting free company and if he and the Red Sox can’t agree on an extension, there’s a risk Verdugo may very well be traded.
But for buying and selling Verdugo to be value it, the Red Sox should be certain they’ll adequately change his manufacturing. Even if Verdugo by no means turns into any greater than what he already is, he’s nonetheless a confirmed starting-caliber outfielder who performs nice protection and may impression the sport in a wide range of methods. There aren’t many free agent outfielders obtainable who make sense as replacements, so the Red Sox might determine they’d be higher off holding Verdugo via his stroll 12 months and determine his free company later.
Unless they consider there’s already somebody on the roster who might approximate his manufacturing at a fraction of the associated fee, permitting the membership to take a position that cash elsewhere. Someone like Abreu.
The extra doubtless situation is Abreu goes into spring coaching in an identical place as Jarren Duran this previous February, a fringe contender battling for the final reserve outfield spot. He’ll doubtless play winter ball in his native Venezuela within the meantime, however whereas he received’t be a lock to make the opening day roster, what Abreu’s already proven is tantalizing.
If nothing else, Abreu seems to be like he may very well be an actual steal, and followers will need to comply with his future growth intently.
Source: www.bostonherald.com