Wilyer Abreu, a Red Sox outfielder, has missed the first week of spring training due to a viral gastrointestinal sickness.
Abreu, entering his second full season after earning a Gold Glove and receiving Rookie of the Year votes in 2024, came to camp with illness and received suspicious blood findings. He hasn’t swung a bat or participated in fielding drills since he got sick.
“Wilyer came to camp with a gastrointestinal illness,” a Red Sox spokesperson said Saturday. “It’s viral and he wasn’t feeling well with some abnormal labs. Labs have been getting better, and he’s feeling better, but they’re waiting for those to get back to a normal range before baseball activity.”
A noticeably slimmer Abreu stayed away from the Fenway South complex for a few days as position players began to report early last week but has been back at the facility in recent days. Manager Alex Cora said that the team is waiting for everything to come back normal before working him back into a regular progression.
“The labs came in Friday,” Cora said. “There’s still something there. He’ll get another lab on Monday and we’ll see where we’re at.
“Until we get the clearance from the doctors, we’ll stay away from him.”
With Opening Day (March 27) still nearly five weeks away, there’s plenty of time for Abreu to get ready for the season. Assuming his labs improve soon, Abreu could get into game action in the coming weeks.
The Red Sox are expecting big things from the 25-year-old Abreu in 2025. He’s expected to be the starting right fielder after winning the American League Gold Glove at the position last year and finishing sixth in Rookie of the Year voting. At the plate, the Venezuela native hit .253 with 15 homers, 58 RBIs and a .781 OPS in 132 games. The Sox plan on challenging him to play every day by attempting to improve his approach against left-handed starters.
“There’s a progression here,” Cora said earlier this week. “We felt good where we were last year, what he brings to the equation defensively. We cannot take it for granted. It would be good if he can play most of the games in right field at Fenway because we know how he plays it. We’ll see where we’re at. It’s still early to talk about what we’re gonna do as far as the personnel and who’s going to platoon and who’s not.
“We’ll try to see if he can face a lot of lefties in spring training. That’ll be good for him and we’ll decide what we do.“
