“I didn’t really pay attention to it. I feel like that’s out of my control,” Abreu said via translator. “I just focus on the things that I can control, and [rumors] don’t really bother me at all.

“I know what I needed to do. I just needed to focus on what I can control. That’s what I did.”

For Abreu, that meant absorbing the lessons of an uneven rookie year with a focus on strength training and nutrition, looking to stay healthy and productive for the full season. Despite a stomach bug that cost him some weight at the start of spring training, Abreu has felt like a different player in the batter’s box.

“At this point, I feel better than I felt last year. I feel more stable. I feel more in control of my at-bats,” said Abreu. “When you have your body under control, you make less movements. That allows you to hit the ball better and to see the ball better, and also to have more contact, which is my ultimate goal, and to minimize the strikeouts.”

Through 17 games, Abreu has tightened his strike zone in a way that has made him one of MLB’s elite performers so far this season. He enters Monday’s series in Tampa Bay with a .340 average, .468 OBP, and .600 slugging mark, products of an improved approach.

Entering Sunday, Abreu had significantly reduced his chase rate (swinging at 21% of pitches out of the zone, down from 28% last year), contributing to a huge drop in swings-and-misses (down from 30% in 2024 to 16% so far in 2025).

The result has been more walks (12 so far) and more hard contact on pitches in the zone, contributing to what has been an early season eruption.

“He’s in a good place,” said Sox assistant hitting coach Ben Rosenthal, who has worked with Abreu for years dating to their time in the Astros organization. “He’s talking about, ‘It feels like easy power. I’m not having to try.’ ”

With that increased bat life, Abreu has once again forced a reconsideration of his potential.

When the Sox acquired Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez from the Astros at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for catcher Christian Vázquez, he’d just started tapping into power that suggested a potential big league outfielder — but in a narrowly defined role.

But Abreu kept making progress once in the Sox system, and the combination of mature swing decisions, emerging power, and strong defense pointed to more than a role player. Though unheralded on his ascent to the big leagues, Abreu seized his opportunity at the end of 2023 and convinced the Sox that he was worthy of a roster spot in 2024.

He then took advantage of an early-season shuffle — in particular, Ceddanne Rafaela’s move to the infield — to lock up a lineup spot anytime the Sox faced a righthander.

Now, to this point, he’s shown that he may be more than a solid everyday lineup presence.

“He exemplifies what we want a lot of our players to do,” said farm director Brian Abraham. “You have information internally, have projections, you have a lot of different things that create a view of what a player is and can be. And then sometimes the player, based on the work that they put in, based on improved skills, those projections can change and improve. Wilyer is a really good example of that.”

That description arises from a combination of both strong baseline skills and the aptitude to improve. At 25, Abreu is offering evidence that he is still evolving.

There are no guarantees that what Abreu has shown to this point is a harbinger of a breakout. After all, the last decade has seen a wide array of hot starts by players ranging from Connor Wong (2024), Michael Chavis (2019), and Sandy Léon (1.157 OPS through his first 17 games of 2016!) give way to more modest overall performances.

That said, Abreu is showing that after an offseason of speculation that he might be moved to clear a path for other prospects, the Red Sox might not want to look beyond the emerging player who has been an early season force.

“The ceiling, hopefully, you’d like to see a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger. I think that’s within reach for [Abreu] as he learns the league, still, and he gets used to himself,” said Rosenthal. “Wilyer’s here right now, and he’s really good … We have good prospects, too. Their time will come, no doubt. But right now, Wily is here and exciting to watch.”

Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @alexspeier.