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Boston Red Sox Rookie Joins Rare Baseball History with Gold Glove Win

The future looks bright for the outfielder, but will it be in Boston?

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu (52) makes a catch for an out against the Tampa Bay Rays during fourth inning at Fenway Park on Sept 27.
Boston Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu (52) makes a catch for an out against the Tampa Bay Rays during fourth inning at Fenway Park on Sept 27. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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Congratulations are in order for Boston Red Sox outfielder WIlyer Abreu, who captured the American League Gold Glove Award in right field on Sunday night.

The 25-year-old out of Venezuela won the award in his first full season in the big leagues. He was acquired by the Red Sox in a trade with the Houston Astros in 2022 and made a brief cameo in 2023, but he really asserted himself this year. He played 132 games for manager Alex Cora, posting a 3.5 WAR thanks to his combination of strong defense and power at the plate.

With the Gold Glove win, he also joined some rare baseball history.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Wilyer Abreu is the 7th rookie OF to win Gold Glove, joining: Tommie Agee (1966), Fred Lynn (1975), Ichiro Suzuki (2001), Luis Robert (2020), Steven Kwan (2022), Brenton Doyle (2023)

h/t @EliasSports

Abreu had nine assists in the outfield this year. He made just seven errors. Alongside Jarren Duran and Tyler O'Neill, Abreu helped the Red Sox have one of the best outfield cores in all of baseball.

At the plate, Abreu hit .253 with 15 homers and 58 RBI. Because of injuries to Tristan Casas and Trevor Story, he was forced to hit in the middle of the order, but he acquitted himself well.

The future undoubtedly looks bright for Abreu, but will that future be in Boston? There has been talk that maybe the Red Sox could use Abreu in a trade to help beef up their pitching staff, which needs help.

Boston finished in third place in the American League East this year and hasn't made the playoffs since 2021.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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