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Venezuela will play Team USA for the WBC title on Tuesday. <\/span><\/p>\n The Red Sox right fielder, who is playing left field for Venezuela, went 0 for 4 on Monday \u2014 a hitless night that will be forgotten, dramatically overshadowed by an epic swing two nights earlier. <\/span><\/p>\n On Saturday, Abreu\u2019s three-run homer in the quarterfinals transformed Venezuela\u2019s 5-4 deficit into a 7-5 advantage against Japan in an eventual 8-5 win.<\/span><\/p>\n The typically understated Abreu erupted with joy after the swing, producing an unforgettable image.<\/a> He fired his bat into the sky, where it seemingly remained suspended while his Venezuelan teammates joyfully leaped out of the dugout and poured onto the field at loanDepot Park in Miami.<\/span><\/p>\n A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The snapshots of that moment will likely become part of baseball lore in Venezuela, remembered decades from now. Prior to Monday\u2019s win over Italy, the Red Sox outfielder was still glowing with the memory of his accomplishment and the celebration it set off.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[The bat flip] just happened in the moment and with the excitement that I [had]. It was unbelievable. I think that bat flip, everybody is going to remember it for a long time,\u201d said a beaming Abreu. \u201cThat went viral. I never thought that it was going to be that viral.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The 409-foot homer into the second deck in right field could represent a defining moment in the career of the 26-year-old, while also putting him on the map for casual spectators of the sport. That said, those who have watched Abreu the longest viewed the homer not as transformative but instead reflective of abilities they\u2019ve long identified.<\/span><\/p>\n Team Venezuela manager Omar L\u00f3pez first encountered Abreu in 2022. L\u00f3pez was coaching first base for the Astros in a spring training game; Abreu was an unheralded minor leaguer who\u2019d been summoned to a game with the big league team. It didn\u2019t take long for Abreu to forge a significant impression.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe first swing that he put [on the ball], that was a rocket, a laser,\u201d recalled L\u00f3pez, now the Astros bench coach.<\/span><\/p>\n Later that season, however, the Astros traded Abreu to the Sox in the deal that sent catcher Christian V\u00e1zquez to Houston.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was like, what\u2019s going on here?\u201d said L\u00f3pez. \u201cIt was a good trade because Christian V\u00e1zquez came in to help us win the World Series. But right away I knew that Wilyer was going to be a really good player . . . Now that I have him here, and [see] how good he is in his work ethic, the way that he goes about his business, that tells me that this kid is going to be really good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Former Sox teammate Alex Bregman, participating in the WBC for Team USA, suggested that Abreu has already forged a place as a gifted all-around talent.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe does it on both sides of the ball, runs the bases well. Just a really, really good player,\u201d said Bregman. \u201cI feel like his swing looks amazing right now. He\u2019s in a really good spot . . . [The home run] was really cool. Great moment for him. He\u2019s such a good dude. I always root for him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sox teammate Willson Contreras, also a player on Team Venezuela, had actually been preparing for the possibility of hitting for Abreu on Saturday had Japan summoned a lefthanded reliever. But once the opponents elected to leave a righty in for Abreu, Contreras sprinted from the batting cage to the dugout in hopes of seeing a special moment unfold.<\/span><\/p>\n He got to the dugout just in time to see Abreu\u2019s homer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s the highest bat flip for a Venezuelan player right there,\u201d said Contreras. \u201c[The home run] was really amazing. We\u2019re trying to enjoy every single second, and just watching Wilyer rounding the bases with so much joy makes me happy . . . I\u2019m really glad and happy for him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Abreu has had consistently strong at-bats during the tournament, entering Monday with a .294\/.381\/.471 line while driving in six runs in five games. Still, his tournament experience will be defined not by statistics but instead by what he proved capable of doing against the backdrop of the elevated adrenaline and emotions of a setting unlike any he\u2019d previously experienced.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t describe the emotions [of the WBC]. It\u2019s been really good, but it\u2019s been very difficult to explain, because I never imagined something like this,\u201d said Abreu. \u201cIt\u2019s way better than I imagined it would be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @alexspeier<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js<\/a><\/p>\n var oneTrustActive = true; try { \/\/ Default to granted consent \/\/ FB script decleration if (oneTrustActive && oneTrustConsentObj && oneTrustConsentObj.C0004 === false) { \/\/ We need to call consent before we run init and track Venezuela will play Team USA for the WBC title on Tuesday. The Red Sox right fielder, who is playing left field for Venezuela, went 0 for 4 on Monday \u2014 a hitless night that will be forgotten, dramatically overshadowed by an epic swing two nights earlier. On Saturday, Abreu\u2019s three-run homer in the quarterfinals transformed … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Wilyer-Abreus-homer-in-WBC-still-has-everyone-flipping-out.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24157,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24155\/revisions\/24157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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