Article: Wilyer Abreu is the Red Sox's Offensive Wild Card Heading Into October

[Alex Mayes]

The Red Sox are currently under an amount of pressure this core crop of players isn't really used to. They’ve had a largely anemic offense since Roman Anthony’s injury at the beginning of September. There’s hope that he can return should the team make the Divisional Round, but putting all the pressure of a World Series run on the shoulders of a single rookie was never a recipe for success.

For the month of September, the team is slashing just .256/.321/.388. Nate Eaton, Romy Gonzalez, and Rob Refsnyder lead the team in most offensive stats. While all of those are serviceable role players, none of them should be the best hitters on a team preparing to play October baseball for the first time in four years. Luckily, there’s one, slightly overlooked, member of the team that could be the turning point for the offense: Wilyer Abreu.

I know, Abreu went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in his first game off the injured list. It didn’t inspire much confidence. That being said, his presence in the lineup should open up at-bats for everyone else. Even with him being out for over a month, he’s second on the team in home runs. He’s not your standard power hitter, but he’s got some thump in his bat that pitchers have to respect. They know that if they don’t hit their spot, he’s the second-most likely person in the lineup to make them pay for it.

He played DH in his return to the lineup, giving some pause for concern that his quad isn’t fully healed. The best unit this team can put on the field features Abreu manning right field, the position where he won a Gold Glove just last season. In most any ballpark, besides the spring training facility where the Rays are playing their home games this season, Abreu at 80% will be more impactful than running Masataka Yoshida out to right. His quad may not be healthy enough to make all of the incredible catches he’s made look routine in years past, but he would provide a steady presence alongside Platinum Glove candidate Ceddanne Rafaela. Saving that for the Wild Card Round may be the smartest play the team can make though, since there’s no reason to risk re-aggravation of his quad with the season on the line.

This lineup doesn’t hinge on Abreu, but him coming into form over the next couple of games is going to be imperative for this Red Sox team. He didn’t have the luxury of a rehab assignment at Triple-A Worcester to get his feet fully under him, but extended time in the batting cage and live game reps will help him find his footing again. It’s a huge ask to put his kind of pressure on a 26-year-old battling an injury, but it's crunch time in Boston. As of this writing, the Red Sox’s magic number is five with six games left to play. That’s about as close to a photo finish as you can get. This team needs far more than Wilyer Abreu to find his footing to make a deep run -- the veterans this team is built around need to do the same -- but a strong performance in Toronto or against the Tigers (two of the AL's premier contenders this year) to close out the regular season will instill this team with a lot of confidence heading into the postseason.

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