“Fantastic,” said Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse, who added that Abreu is combining traits that would mark him as “elite.”

The Sox recognize traps in early season rushes to judgment. But they also feel the initial days of the season have added to mounting evidence they’d seen throughout the spring — both in the Grapefruit League and when Abreu starred for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic — of an improved approach that has a chance to elevate Abreu among the better hitters in the game.

“The cool thing is, we’ve seen a lot of small doses [of approach gains] throughout camp,” said Fatse. “We still have a ways to go before it becomes completely sticky, but the reality is, it’s been something that he’s been prioritizing.”

So what is Abreu prioritizing? The 26-year-old identified a few elements.

First, he wanted to become more compact in his swing — thus allowing him to better handle fastballs at the top of the zone, a weakness in past years. Through three games, his swing was averaging 6.7 feet — about seven inches less than his average swing length prior to this season — and had been flatter through the zone, creating fewer holes.

“I’m just trying to be shorter with my swing, keep my hands closer to my body,” said Abreu. “That’s one of the things I did this offseason.”

He’s also worked to focus on the middle of the field as a default setting in his approach, rather than pulling the ball. Abreu has a knack for driving the ball in the air in the air even when he lets it travel deep in the zone, an uncommon gift.

He’s also worked to focus on the middle of the field as a default setting in his approach, rather than pulling the ball. Abreu has an uncommon gift for driving the ball in the air even when he lets it travel deep in the zone.

“He’s extremely powerful,” said Fatse. “That’s the thing — understanding how powerful you are. You can be short and explosive. You don’t necessarily need more length to generate bat speed.”

Abreu is increasingly coming to an understanding that he’s capable of driving the ball out to all fields. Entering 2026, 37 of his 39 career homers, including all 22 in 2025, were to the right of center field. But the Sox felt he had a natural ability to drive the ball to center and left, and Abreu worked to develop that skill over the offseason.

He built on those efforts in spring training, then turbocharged them during the WBC while working with Team Venezuela hitting coach Miguel Cabrera and assistant manager Victor Martínez.

“I was able to hear that conversation and the motivational speech from Victor,” said Astros bench coach Omar López, the manager of Team Venezuela. “[Martinez] mentioned to him, ‘Wilyer, you’ve got power for [the pull] side, but you also can generate power at Fenway Park on the left side if you let the ball travel more. And then when you go to the other fields, there’s some big gaps on that field. If you’re able to do that, you’re going to use the whole field. Now how are they going to play defense on you?’”

Abreu worked with Martínez and Cabrera on how to use the strength of his lower body to hold his direction up the middle, rather than flying open in pursuit of pull-side power. The result was evident in a homer to center against Team USA in the championship game. Abreu, who beamed about the chance to work with a pair of Venezuelan legends, believes he’s ready to sustain an effective all-fields approach that could elevate his numbers.

“I’ve been trying to use the whole field [in past years]. I just didn’t do it the right way. I think this year, I’m in a better position to use the whole field. That’s kind of new for me this year, but I know I have the ability to do that,” said Abreu. “I think if I keep this path of my swing, trying to use the other way, too, and not only pull everything, I think I’m going to be in a good spot to improve my numbers and improve all my stats.”

If Abreu does that, he has a chance to emerge as a special talent — part of the team’s thinking when they kept him largely off limits in trade talks this winter. Four years after the Sox acquired Abreu in a deadline deal from the Astros for Christian Vázquez, he is flourishing.

The early glimpses from Abreu, then, offer considerable promise to a lineup in search of anchors — and have caught the notice of the rest of the baseball world.

“He’s fun to watch. He’s a great hitter. What he did in the WBC was electric. It was amazing to see that,” said Vázquez, now back with the Astros. “It’s very cool to have [been part of] a trade like that, with a player of that caliber that he has. I’m very happy for him.”

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.