MLB Notebook: Red Sox’ Gold Glover Wilyer Abreu set to be activated, Guardians breathing down Tigers’ necks for AL Central crown, and a look around the league

The Red Sox are about to get a much-needed boost to their lineup with a week to go in the regular season.

Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu is expected to be activated for the Red Sox’ series finale with the Rays on Sunday night at Steinbrenner Field.

Boston doesn’t have the luxury of slowly working Abreu back into its lineup like it could during the middle of the season.

“We don’t have time to ease people. We don’t have time,” Alex Cora said. “If he’s in the middle of the lineup, or lower in the lineup, he’s a good at-bat. He’s going to add a weapon for us.”

Abreu remained in Boston on Friday, undergoing a series of medical tests to ensure he’s ready to come off the injured list. He ran the bases to test his strained calf, and the club feels he’s ready to rejoin the team and be available for the remainder of the regular season and postseason.

“I feel strong, I feel good, and I’m ready to go,” said Abreu. “I’m ready to play the rest of the games and the playoffs, too. I’m ready to go and just happy to be here and be with the team.”

Abreu led the Sox in homers with 22 at the time he went on the IL. Since then, Trevor Story passed him and has 25 homers on the season. With Abreu back, the Sox add another bat to their offense and get his excellent defense back in right field.

“He can hit the ball out of the ballpark. That’s something we’ve been missing for a while—since he went down, really,” said Cora. “We’ll see how we play it out as far as the lineup, but that threat down there, or wherever he hits, can hit one out of the ballpark and change the game.”

The Sox have felt the pain over the last five weeks without both Abreu and Roman Anthony, who is on the shelf with a left oblique strain. Initially it was thought that Abreu would miss just a couple of days with his calf strain; instead, he missed five weeks.

“I’m very competitive, so it was tough for me not to be out there with my guys,” said Abreu. “I didn’t expect to be out for this long, but now I’m ready, so that’s the most important thing.”

He’ll be returning to game action without the benefit of a rehab assignment with either the Sea Dogs or the WooSox, but isn’t worried about having to face live pitching the rest of the way.

“I’ve been hitting a lot and hitting a lot against Trajekt (a pitching machine that simulates various pitches and deliveries),” he said. “I think that kept me ready for games, so I think I’ll be fine.”

TIGERS FEELING THE PRESSURE

The Cleveland Guardians have quietly turned what once looked like a lost season into an all-in September war for a postseason berth. With just a handful of games left, it’s no longer a long shot—it’s a pulse-racing fight for relevance.

On August 25th, Cleveland faced a slim 5.5% chance of qualifying for the playoffs, with a record of 66-66 and 11 games behind the Tigers for first place in the American League Central. Since then, Cleveland has experienced a remarkable surge, winning 20 of their previous 25 games, including a run of 10 consecutive victories.

Starters Gavin Williams, Parker Messick, and Joey Cantillo have been excellent since the All-Star break, and sluggers Jose Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo have carried the offense. 

Cleveland is surging up the standings without their All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, who is currently suspended by Major League Baseball for allegedly betting on baseball.

Even with Cleveland’s hot streak, the equally bigger story has been the ultimate collapse of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers lost Saturday night for the eighth time in their last nine games and their fifth in a row. If the Tigers blow their division lead, it would rival the Red Sox, who coughed up a 14-game lead over the Yankees in 1978. I’ll spare you the rest of what happened that season.

Detroit’s magic number to clinch the AL Central is 7, with seven games to play. 

With the way they’ve been scuffling, coupled with the Red Sox hanging on for dear life in the AL Wild Card race, the two teams' final series against one another at Fenway Park beginning on Sept. 26 will have massive playoff implications.

MAGIC NUMBER

The Red Sox are currently in third place in the American League East, trailing the Blue Jays by four games. Boston is second in the AL wild-card standings, leading the red-hot Guardians and Astros by one game.

The Sox have tiebreakers in their favor. Winning the season series with the Yankees, 9-4; the Red Sox tied the season series with the Mariners, 3-3; and the Red Sox won the season series with the Astros, 4-2.

Boston’s magic number to clinch a spot in the postseason is seven, with three home games and four road games to go.

Red Sox schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 21: at Rays, 7:35 p.m., EST

Tuesday, Sept. 23: at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., EST

Wednesday, Sept. 24: at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., EST

Thursday, Sept. 25: at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m., EST

Friday, Sept. 26: Tigers, 7:10 p.m., EST

Saturday, Sept. 27: Tigers, 4:10 p.m., EST

Sunday, Sept. 28: Tigers, 3:05 p.m., EST

LUIS PERALES PITCHES FOR WORCESTER

The Red Sox quickly promoted right-handed pitching prospect Luis Perales to Triple-A Worcester just three days after he made his 2025 season debut for the Sea Dogs.

The 22-year-old is healthy following Tommy John surgery and now finds himself one call away from the big leagues.

“I feel good,” Perales said to reporters this week at Polar Park. “It’s been a long road. I honestly didn’t know I was going to be coming here; I was just getting myself ready to pitch, and I’m kind of surprised I’m here.” 

Perales is the Sox’ No. 9 prospect, according to MLB.com, and was enjoying a great season in 2024 with High-A Greenville and Double-A before he was shut down and underwent surgery. He posted a 2.94 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 12 walks in nine starts between both clubs.

Since joining the WooSox, Perales has made two appearances, both in relief, and has a 13.50 ERA, allowing two runs in his last outing against the Rochester Red Wings.

Perales will be in the mix for a spot to make the Red Sox roster in spring training next season, but it’s more likely he’ll start the season with the WooSox. Boston’s young pitching depth of Payton Tolle, Kyle Harrison, Connelly Early, Richard Fitts, and now Perales gives the club plenty of internal options for next season, unless they swing a trade in the offseason for another top-of-the-rotation arm.

Speaking of Harrison, he made his much-anticipated first start for the Red Sox Saturday night against the Rays. With the Sox entrenched in a playoff race, the club promoted Harrison, and he was as advertised.

The left-hander tossed six strong innings, allowing just one earned run in Boston’s 6-3 win.

“Amazing, amazing,” gushed Alex Cora. “Strike-throwing, the fastball is legit, and when he’s around the zone, he’s tough to hit. He was under control.”

Boston has begun to flip the script with how their farm system has been looked at since the beginning of the season. Prior to Opening Day, the constant narrative was about the “Big Three” of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kristian Campbell. As the year has progressed, the Red Sox have a new “Big Three” in Tolle, Early, and Harrison.

The pitching pipeline has finally taken shape, and the Sox have quality internal options that can offer meaningful innings for the team.

“In the offseason, a lot of people talked about the Big Three and position players,” said Cora, “but we have some good arms, too. They’ve come up here and done their jobs. For the year, we’ve been banged up, but the kids, they come here, and they just pitch, man. They’re not scared of the situation, and today was a big one.”

Harrison allowed just four hits and walked two on Saturday night and attacked the zone, striking out five batters.

The Sox’ decision to have Harrison spend two and a half months with the WooSox has paid off.

“It was cool. It was cool to see all the work pay off,” Harrison said. “I’d say the work I had with the changeup, cutter, slurve, and sinker, using those against lefties and getting those reps at Triple A, was huge for me. To go out there and be able to show them today and have some success is definitely an encouraging sign.”

A LOOK AROUND THE LEAGUE

- Angels’ Mike Trout hit a 485-foot blast on Saturday against the Rockies; it was his 400th career home run. His eighth-inning milestone homer made him the 59th player to reach 400 homers.

It was the 22nd home run of the season—and the first in eight games—for the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star, who has played his entire career for the Angels.

"A lot of my buddies back home and family members and a lot of people texted me, 'Hey, when are you going to hit this homer?' I'm glad I got it out of the way," he said.

- Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos criticized manager Rob Thompson for “questionable” communication. Castellanos has been frustrated because of platooning in the outfield with Max Kepler.

“Communication over the years has been questionable, at least in my experience," Castellanos said to reporters. "There’s just been times where things have been said, and then, over the course of years, I’ll have expectations because I’ll latch on to what’s being said, and then actions would be different. And then I’m kind of left just thinking and whatnot. But again, like it is what it is. Adapt, do what I can. At the end of the day we’re here to win a World Series.”

- Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 57th homer, making him Seattle’s all-time single-season franchise home run record holder, passing the great Ken Griffey Jr.

Raleigh crushed an 0-2 sinker from Astros lefty Framber Valdez, belting the record homer in the third inning, leading the Mariners to a 6-4 win.

“The win was unbelievable,” Raleigh said. “I didn't even think about the home run. I thought about it rounding the bases, and that was about it. And then got back to the game.”

- Mariners starter Bryan Woo has been diagnosed with inflammation in his pectoral muscle, and his status ahead of the postseason remains unclear.

"The MRI revealed some minor inflammation in his pec," Mariners skipper Dan Wilson said. "Really, just kind of a day-to-day thing. We'll continue to assess him each day, and we'll know more in the next 24 to 48 hours, depending on how he responds [to treatment]."

Woo threw five scoreless innings against the Astros on Friday night, but after returning to the dugout at the end of the fifth, he told trainers that he was experiencing tightness. 

- Twins starter Pablo Lopez’s season is over after he was placed on the 15-day injured list with a mild right forearm strain. Lopez will finish the season at 5-4 with a 2.74 ERA in 14 starts. He missed 14 games with a right hamstring strain in April and 80 games from June 5 to Sept. 5 with a right shoulder strain.

- Giants top prospect Bryce Eldridge collected his first MLB hit, a double off Dodgers All-Star starter Tyler Glasnow. He laced a bases-clearing double to record his first career hit. Eldridge entered Saturday 0-for-9 with five strikeouts through his first three games, though he consistently made hard contact and just missed a pair of home runs at Chase Field this week.