How Wilyer Abreu is making history with hot start for Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have found their groove at Fenway Park after a tough start to the 2025 MLB season on the road. The American League East club has won five consecutive games, including a weekend sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

A lot of players deserve credit for Boston's resurgence, but Wilyer Abreu has made the largest impact both at the plate and in the field.

Abreu has been one of baseball's best players so far this season, and his excellent performance started right from the jump when he smashed two home runs in an Opening Day win over the Rangers in Texas.

He's been red-hot at the plate ever since, leading the American League with a .483 batting average, in addition to hitting three home runs with 12 RBI with a .595 on-base percentage. He ranks top three among AL players in several notable stats.

Abreu also has made history with his awesome start to the year, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Lou Gehrig as the only left-handed batters in AL history to tally at least 14 hits, three homers, 12 RBI, 10 runs scored and eight walks in the first 10 games of a season.

Abreu didn't start the first game of Sunday's doubleheader against the Cardinals, but he ended it with a walk-off single in the 10th inning.

He flashed his defensive brilliance in the second game Sunday. This throw was pretty much perfect:

Abreu was acquired as part of the Christian Vazquez deal with the Houston Astros before the 2022 MLB trade deadline. He made his Red Sox debut in 2023 and played his first full season in Boston last year. Abreu won a 2024 American League Gold Glove Award for his stellar defense in right field.

The expectation for Abreu coming into this season was he that would continue to make strides at the plate, and he's certainly done that through 10 games. His whiff percentage has been cut in half from 29.5 in 2024 to 14.5 this year, per Baseball Savant. He's also swinging at fewer bad pitches. His chase percentage is 13.6, far below his career average of 27. He's batting .667 on breaking balls, compared to a .202 average on the same pitches last season. He's striking out a lot less often, too.

The real question is whether Abreu can play anywhere near this pace for a full season. A regression is coming. He's obviously not going to bat over .400, but can he hit over .300 for the first time in his major league career? Can he reach 20-25 homers after hitting a career-high 15 last season? Will his improved plate discipline continue the trend of fewer strikeouts and more walks?

Opponents will start to pitch him differently, and the longer he keeps playing at a high level, the more pressure he'll be under. But Abreu has improved each season he's played in Boston, and playing in a very strong lineup should help him.

There have been a lot of positives for the Red Sox this season. Kristian Campbell looks like the top AL Rookie of the Year candidate. Garrett Crochet looks like a real ace. Alex Bregman leads the AL with 15 hits.

But Abreu's start is the most notable of all. He's a potential star in the making at just 25 years old.