RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesBOSTON — If you’re an opposing pitcher, you don’t want to be facing Wilyer Abreu when he’s feeling locked in at the plate.
Three separate times this season, Abreu has been on a power surge. In the first week of the season, he belted three homers in his first six games.
Last month, he had back-to-back two-homer games, earning American League Player of the Week honors.
And starting Sunday in Los Angeles, Abreu began a run in which he’s now homered in each of his last three games, including one Wednesday night in the Red Sox’ 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. He now leads all hitters with nine homers since the All-Star break.
That means that 10 — or exactly half of his 20 homers this season — have come in a span of just 11 games.
Chad Tracy, Red Sox interim manager, believes there’s a tell that helps foreshadow a torrid stretch for Abreu at the plate.
“With Wilyer — and this is my opinion; he may have his own — but when his turn gets short, when he gets short to the ball, he gets really dangerous,” said Tracy. “When he gets a little long in the back, he may swing and miss a little more. But I think he’s very aware of his swing and when that thing gets short, short and compact, it gets really, really loud.”
“To be honest, I don’t know,” said Abreu when asked to explain his streakiness. “I think when you hit one, the others come by themselves. You’re not trying to do too much, just get a good pitch to hit and you make good contact, good things are going to happen.
“I’m not looking for homers or anything like that. It just happens. When I stay stable with my body with less movement, I can see the ball better, I can recognize all the pitches. I’m in a better position and that’s the key for me.”
It’s not just Abreu who’s hot when it comes to home runs. As a team, the Red Sox have homered at least once in nine straight games for a total of 18 in that stretch. The Sox are now 51-23 when they homer in games this season; when they fail to homer, they’re just 11-28.
Abreu’s homer gave him 20 for the season, giving the Red Sox their second 20-homer player with Willson Contreras (now with 23) reaching the milestone first.
He’s now three homers away from setting a new career high after hitting 22 last season
“I’m not looking to hit 30 homers or anything like that,” said Abreu. “I’m just trying to play baseball. Whatever God has planned for me this season, I’m going to be happy with it. I’m just trying to stay healthy, be on the field every day and whatever happens, happens.”
Prior to the season, Fangraphs’ ZiPS model predicted that the Sox wouldn’t have a single player with 20 or more homers.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know about that because I’m not looking for any numbers or any predictions or anything like that,” said Abreu. “Maybe at some point, that was the projection but that changed during the season. Everything changes. Sometimes, numbers are only numbers.”
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