{"id":578685,"date":"2026-02-18T04:48:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578685\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T04:48:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:48:24","slug":"red-sox-outfield-legend-dwight-evans-sees-rf-wilyer-abreu-as-special-in-many-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578685\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox\u2019 outfield legend Dwight Evans sees RF Wilyer Abreu as \u2018special in many ways\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Over a 19-year career with the Red Sox, <\/a>Dwight Evans won eight Gold Gloves for his play in right field, becoming the standard for the position.<\/p>\n

His name is included on a short list of players regarded as among the best to play right, mixed with the likes of Roberto Clemente, Al Kaline, Ichiro Suzuki and select others.<\/p>\n

So when Evans, who works as a special instructor during spring training, talks about the position, people listen. And when he calls Wilyer Abreu, the Red Sox\u2019 current right fielder, \u201cspecial,\u201d it carries extra weight.<\/p>\n

Abreu has won Gold Gloves in right in each of the last two years,<\/a> leaving him well behind Evans. But other than Evans, only Mookie Betts (four) has won more Gold Gloves among Sox right fielders.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does a lot of good things out there,\u201d said Evans. \u201cHe\u2019s got a really good arm. And he wants to be good. He wants the ball hit to him, which is important. He knows situations. He\u2019s never out there not knowing what to do. He\u2019s on top of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got two Gold Gloves for a reason. He\u2019s a great, great player. He\u2019s special. He has fun playing the game, and that\u2019s a missing element for a lot of players. They\u2019re so serious, but he truly has a lot of fun. And he\u2019s fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abreu has more than end-of-the-year hardware to show for his excellence \u2014 the advanced defensive metrics help stake his claim, too. In 2024, Abreu was credited with 17 defensive runs saved; last year, he had 15.<\/p>\n

According to Statcast, Abreu finished in the 90th percentile last year in defensive run value. His range was in the 94th percentile and his arm strength was 97. And as measured by Outs Above Average, Abreu, with seven, finished second only to Arizona\u2019s Corbin Carroll among all MLB right fielders.<\/p>\n

Right field in Fenway has its many challenges, from the amount of ground to cover – more than any other right field in MLB \u2014 to its arduous sun-field, to the many strange angles and dimensions.<\/p>\n

But as Evans sees it, Abreu prepares himself well to handle the demands of Fenway.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe anticipates and that\u2019s important,\u201d said Evans. \u201cI always say great plays are made before they happen because they\u2019re made in your mind. You go through all the scenarios in your mind, and Wilyer does that and so does Ceddanne (Rafaela in center); they have to.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes hard and he hustles, but he\u2019s always anticipating. He\u2019s always ahead of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modern outfielders have the benefit of playing in the Information Age, with detailed spray charts on every hitter available on a card they carry in their pocket. Evans didn\u2019t have that luxury in his career, and had to learn hitters\u2019 tendencies by watching and making mental notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had to know your players,\u201d said Evans, \u201cand I think that helps players to learn how to play the game himself. Today, there\u2019s a lot of coaching that goes, which is fine. But when I played, you had to know your opponents and you had to know your pitcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you gave me one of these cards, I wouldn\u2019t know what to do with it. Now, they have (information) in their ear about what pitch is coming. All of that is helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to compare Abreu with Betts, Evans measures his words carefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved Mookie,\u201d said Evans. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy you build your organization around. I\u2019m not saying Wilyer\u2019s not there yet, but there\u2019s no saying he can\u2019t get there, either. He\u2019s a strong kid, and he has that ability. I think Mookie was blessed with more speed, but Wilyer is very athletic. He has a good first step, gets great jumps and he\u2019s always moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily a fair comparison; Mookie is one of my all-time favorites.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Evans knows every nook-and-cranny to Fenway\u2019s right field dimension, from the way the wall juts out beyond the right field foul pole to the low-rise wall down the line and the lack of foul territory. He\u2019s tried to share his knowledge with Abreu, an eager student.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the toughest outfield in baseball,\u201d said Evans. \u201cIt flat-out is, for all the elements and angles. I\u2019ve tried to share some of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s given me a lot of good advice,\u201d confirmed Abreu. \u201cHe was the best ever playing there, so every time we talk, he\u2019s got some good tips, especially with the Pesky Pole, because that\u2019s the most difficult part to play, especially when the ball kicks off the wall with all the angles. He\u2019s told me how important it is to make quick decisions out there, when the ball is heading (to the area for the wall that juts out). It\u2019s either go back and wait for the ball, or come in and cut it off. That\u2019s the toughest call to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to win eight Gold Gloves anywhere. It\u2019s so impressive. He\u2019s an example to follow, and I\u2019m lucky to have him helping me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans has a right arm that was the stuff of legend, so much so that his assist totals were modest after baserunners learned to not challenge him.<\/p>\n

Abreu\u2019s arm isn\u2019t in the same category \u2014 few were or are \u2014 but it plays well above-average, as the metrics indicate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s accurate and he releases quick and his feet are underneath him so he\u2019s got some drive when he throws,\u201d noted Evans. \u201cHe just does a lot of good things out there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Over a 19-year career with the Red Sox, Dwight Evans won eight Gold Gloves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[67031,152,5,36338,3194,606,13694],"class_list":["post-578685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baseball","tag-2026-spring-training","tag-american-league","tag-baseball","tag-dwight-evans","tag-greenfly","tag-wilyer-abreu","tag-workout"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116089829484965147","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}