Wilyer

Abreu

Abreu got the start against left-hander Framber Valdez and has been getting far more playing time against lefties this season. He delivered too, with his fifth home run and second stolen base of the season. The 26-year-old is slashing .311/.393/.485 on the season and is a fixture in the middle of the Red Sox lineup. He looks like a major steal from fantasy baseball draft season.

His 403-foot shot to right-center barely cleared the deepest part of Camden Yards while also being a homer in 29 of 30 parks. Abreu’s hot start carried him closer to the middle of the order -- but he’s still hitting just .218/.306/.291 in his last 15 games even after this outburst. Boston’s problem is that, well, nobody else is really hitting well enough to push Abreu back down the lineup anyway. With an .845 OPS, it’s hard to be upset with the performance for his draft price, but Abreu’s .269/.321/.346 line against lefties continues to loudly speak to the idea that he should be a platoon player.

Abreu was great in the WBC and the first 10 games of the season, but his OPS is already back under .800 now, as he’s gone 4-for-34 with no extra-base hits in his last nine games. He’ll bounce back and he should retain some mixed-league value, but it doesn’t look like that a big breakthrough is going to materialize here.

The Twins are throwing a right-handed pitcher, so Red Sox manager Alex Cora mentioned that this was a planned day off for Abreu. It just comes at a bad time with Willson Contreras (back) injured and both Caleb Durbin and Carlos Narvaez getting a day off. Roman Anthony will be in right field for this one with Masataka Yoshida at designated hitter and batting third.

Abreu has been the one player immune to Boston’s early offensive slump. He has 10 hits, twice as many as anyone else on the team, and his three homers are as many as the rest of the club has combined. He won’t be sitting against lefties anytime soon.

After hitting a game-tying homer in the ninth inning of Boston’s eventual loss Saturday, Abreu again did everything he could to aid the Red Sox offense today. Alas, his homer accounted for the team’s only runs. He might have plated more runs in the eighth if Jarren Duran hadn’t gotten picked off first with one out. Willson Contreras went on to reach and Abreu singled to the gap afterwards, but Caleb Durbin struck out to end the threat.

With Rob Refsnyder no longer on the team, the Red Sox don’t have a clear platoon partner for Abreu. Isiah Kiner-Falefa may make some starts in the outfield against lefties, but he’s playing second base today with Marcelo Mayer sitting. This is great news for Abreu’s fantasy value, and he could be in for a real breakout season. The rest of the Red Sox’s Opening Day lineup is: Roman Anthony LF, Trevor Story SS, Jarren Duran DH, Willson Contreras 1B, Caleb Durbin 3B, Wilyer Abreu RF, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B, Carlos Narvaez C, and Ceddanne Rafaela CF.

Suárez was one of Venezuela’s heroes during Monday’s comeback win over Italy to reach the WBC final, launching a solo homer off starter Aaron Nola to jump-start a four-run outburst. He’ll get the nod at DH after appearing in just four of the six games for Venezuela to this point in the tournament. Here’s the full lineup: Ronald Acuña Jr. (RF), Maikel Garcia (3B), Luis Arraez (1B), Suárez (DH), Gleyber Torres (2B), Ezequiel Tovar (SS), Wilyer Abreu (LF), Salvador Perez (C) and Jackson Chourio (CF).

Venezuela fell behind early 5-2 in the contest, but Maikel Garcia slugged a two-run homer in the fifth inning that pulled them back to within a run. Then in the sixth, Ezequiel Tovar and Gleyber Torres singled before Abreu pummeled a game-changing 409-foot (108.1 mph EV) three-run blast that sunk the defending champions. That would be his only hit in the three at-bats on the night, though it changed the entire tournament. Next up for Venezuela, is a date with Italy in the semifinals on Monday.

Abreu was certainly expected to be in the lineup, but that’s a little higher placement than we’d have guessed. Today’s lineup: RF Ronald Acuña Jr., 1B Luis Arraez, CF Jackson Chourio, LF Abreu, 3B Maikel Garcia, DH Eugenio Suárez, C William Contreras, 2B Gleyber Torres and SS Andrés Giménez. Willson Contreras is on the bench, even though he’d seem to be a clear upgrade over Arraez.