Red Sox Announce Sudden Wilyer Abreu Change Before Athletics Game

The Boston Red Sox made a sudden change to their lineup Saturday, dropping one of their most prolific power hitters just three hours before first pitch against the Athletics at Fenway Park, as Boston goes for its 10th straight win.

Two-time Gold Glove winner Wilyer Abreu was scratched from the starting lineup, according to Red Sox reporters Chris Cotillo and Chris Henrique. Jarren Duran, who had been left off the original card against the lefty Jump, was inserted in his place, with the change coming together in the final hour before Boston tried for a second double-digit win streak in the space of a month.

Wilyer Abreu Scratched From Boston Red Sox Lineup

Abreu had been slotted third in right field before the late change, but the removal traces back to Friday night’s 13-1 win, when he fouled a ball off his shin. Tracy addressed the injury after that game, saying Abreu “was a little bit sore” and that “he should be OK.” Tracy added the team planned to “check in in the morning just to make sure that everything is still feeling ok.”

That morning check apparently produced Saturday’s scratch. No further details on the severity of Abreu’s injury were immediately available, and the Red Sox had not issued a formal transaction or injury designation by the time the lineup change was reported. Abreu had strung together multi-hit performances in the recent series before the shin issue surfaced, making the timing of the removal notable given how well he had been swinging the bat.

Tracy has not commented further on the decision beyond his Friday remarks about Abreu’s soreness, and no additional statement from the interim manager on the scratch itself had circulated widely as of Saturday afternoon, according to Cotillo. The Red Sox have generally erred toward caution with minor injuries during the current stretch, opting for lineup flexibility rather than pushing players through discomfort in the middle of a nine-game winning streak.

Jarren Duran Returns to Boston Red Sox Lineup

Duran, who had been held out of the original lineup against the left-handed Jump, moved into left field as Abreu’s direct replacement, according to Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald. Eli White, who had been ticketed for left field in the initial card, shifted over to right field in the updated alignment, keeping Boston’s defensive alignment largely intact around the outfield edges.

The revised Red Sox order has Jahmai Jones leading off at designated hitter, followed by Ceddanne Rafaela, Caleb Durbin, Willson Contreras, Andruw Monasterio, White, Nick Sogard, Duran and Connor Wong, with Jake Bennett still starting on the mound, according to multiple beat reporters including Cotillo, Henrique and Tyler Milliken, as well as the Red Sox’s own social media account.

The swap marks the second lineup iteration to circulate before Saturday’s first pitch, after an earlier card had Abreu in right field, White in left and Duran on the bench against Jump, who beat Boston on July 28 in the two clubs’ last meeting. As with the initial changes, no additional comment from Tracy specifically addressing the Duran insertion had been widely reported beyond the context of Abreu’s shin issue, leaving the exact lineup logic somewhat mysterious beyond the injury itself.

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