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Bob Kelly Abreu (; ; born March 11, 1974), nicknamed " El Comedulce" and " La Leche", is a Venezuelans former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets.
Abreu is a two-time All-Star, and has won a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award. He has been a single-season league leader in games played (twice), doubles, and triples. He had two seasons in which he collected thirty home runs and thirty stolen bases, making him one of thirteen players to have achieved the 30–30 club twice in a career. Through 2014, Abreu led active ballplayers in doubles (565), walks (1,456), and Outfielder assists (136), was fifth in runs scored (1,441) and stolen bases (400), seventh in extra-base hits (911) and on-base percentage (.396), and tenth in runs batted in (1,363). He is also one of only seven players ever to record at least 900 career extra-base hits and steal at least 400 bases along with Barry Bonds, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Craig Biggio, Honus Wagner, and Paul Molitor. Of these, five are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Left unprotected in the 1997 MLB Expansion Draft when the Astros decided to keep fellow outfielder Richard Hidalgo, Abreu was selected by the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays, only to be dealt hours later to the Phillies for shortstop Kevin Stocker, a trade regarded among the worst in MLB history.
In 1999, Abreu made a brief run at the batting title. His .335 career-high average that season ranked third in the National League and was the highest posted by a Phillies player since outfielder Tony González hit .339 in 1967. His .446 career-high OBP was third in the league and he tied for the league lead in triples with 11.
In 2000, Abreu finished fourth in the league in triples (10), sixth in doubles (42), seventh in walks (100), and ninth in OBP (.416). Abreu became the first Phillie outfielder since Greg Luzinski with back-to-back 20 homer seasons. In 2001, Abreu led the NL in games played (162), and was third in walks (106), fourth in stolen bases (36) and doubles (48), and eighth in runs (118) and sacrifice flies (9). He also hit a career-high 31 home runs and had a career-high 110 RBI.
For the 2002 season, Abreu led the league in doubles (50), and was sixth in walks (104), seventh in stolen bases (31) and intentional walks (13), eighth in OBP (.413), ninth in hits (176), and tenth in runs (102). In 2003, Abreu was fourth in the league in walks (109), seventh in sacrifice flies (7), eighth in OBP (.409), and ninth in stolen bases (22).
Abreu hit the first home run at Citizens Bank Park on Opening Day, April 12, 2004. He finished the season with a .301 average, 30 home runs, and 105 RBI, and ranked among the National League top five in five offensive categories: runs (fourth, 118) -- the third time in six years that he scored 118 runs, doubles (fourth, 47), stolen bases (third, 40—a career high), walks (second, 127—a career high) and on-base percentage (fifth, .428). Abreu became the first player in major league history to record 30 home runs, 40 doubles, 40 stolen bases, and 100 walks in a single season. He also led the Major Leagues in pitches-per-plate-appearance (4.32) and number of pitches seen (3,077), was eighth-highest in the league in total bases (312), and posted the league's tenth-best OPS (.971).
He was voted a starter in the NL outfield for the All-Star Game, finishing second in fan voting, behind St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jim Edmonds. Prior to the All-Star Game at Comerica Park in Detroit, Abreu won the Home Run Derby as he set records with 24 home runs in a single round (since broken by Josh Hamilton in 2008), and 41 overall, topping Miguel Tejada's previous marks of 15 and 27 set one year earlier. Abreu's longest homer was measured at 517 feet, the third longest in Derby history.
Abreu fit well into the Yankees lineup. He batted .297 with 15 home runs and 107 RBI in the 2006 season. The Yankees ran away with the AL East division title by mid-September 2006, but were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 American League Division Series.
In 2006, Abreu led the major leagues in walks (124), pitches per plate appearance (4.45), and number of pitches seen (3,056), and was second in the major leagues in percent of plate appearances that were walks (18.5%), and led the AL in percentage of pitches taken (66.2), and in walks per plate appearance (.181), third in batting average on balls in play (.375), eighth in on-base percentage (.424), 18th in stolen bases (30), and 19th in doubles (41).
On September 12, 2006, Abreu drove in six runs in the first inning of the Yankees' 12–4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Abreu began the 9-run inning by homering with Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter on base, then concluded it with a bases-loaded double that scored Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera and Jeter. The six RBIs tied Gil McDougald's 55-year franchise record for most in one inning (McDougald batted in six runs in one inning in 1951, his rookie season). Alex Rodriguez broke the record shared by Abreu and McDougald by driving in seven runs in the sixth inning of 2009 regular season finale, also against Tampa Bay.
Abreu hit a walk-off double on July 9, 2008 against the Tampa Bay Rays. On September 18, Abreu hit two home runs and had 6 RBI in a game versus the Chicago White Sox and Javier Vázquez. He finished the season with a .296 average, 20 home runs, and 100 RBI. He had the last stolen base in the original Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008.
After struggling early in the season, Abreu hit .380 with 28 RBI in 26 games in July and was named the American League Player of the Month. Abreu became the first Angels player to reach those figures in batting average and RBI in one calendar month since Tim Salmon, who hit .390 with 32 RBI in 27 games in July 1997.
On August 6, Abreu hit his 250th career home run when he led off the fifth inning with a solo home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher John Danks. Abreu became one of only six players in major league history to collect 250 home runs, 2,000 hits, 1,000 runs, 1,000 runs batted in, 1,000 walks and 300 stolen bases. In 2009, he led the AL in errors by an outfielder, with 8.
Though Abreu stated that he enjoyed his season with the Angels and was credited with helping many of the team's younger players to improve their swings and patience at the plate, he turned down a two-year, $16 million extension on his contract on October 15.
During the 2011–2012 offseason, the New York Yankees proposed a trade to the Angels that would have sent starting pitcher A. J. Burnett to Anaheim for Abreu. Abreu would have become the Yankees' regular designated hitter, but Burnett vetoed the trade. On February 20, 2012, Burnett was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Yankees signed Raúl Ibañez to be the DH. Abreu was already annoyed that he would not be playing every day for the Angels, and when he learned what Burnett had done, he ordered Angels' management to either play him every day as the designated hitter or trade him. Another proposed trade, which would have sent Abreu to the Cleveland Indians for Lou Marson, fell through. Abreu was released by the Angels on April 27, 2012 and replaced on the roster by future Rookie of the Year and MVP Award winner Mike Trout.
Abreu logged 60.2 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Among right fielders, this is 19th best all time, and he is one of 191 players as of 2025 with a WAR over 60. In the span of his career, just nine other players had more hits than Abreu did.
Abreu is the owner of Mineros de Guyana, a soccer team based in Ciudad Guayana.
Abreu bought $10,000 worth of tickets to most Friday night games for children in his "Abreu's Amigos" organization during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In this program, the children got jerseys, coupons for concessions, and chances to meet Abreu on the field during batting practice.
Abreu was the 2004 recipient of the Phillies Community Service award and the Phillies' representative for MLB's Roberto Clemente Award.
In 2008, Abreu made a contribution to the Police Athletic League of New York City through his Abreu's Finest charity to provide boys and girls with recreational, educational, cultural and social programs.
Abreu is known as "El Comedulce" in Venezuela. The name translates roughly to "the candy-eater", which had been his father Nelson Abreu's nickname. Following Nelson's death, Abreu "began asking people to call him the same name as a way of honoring his father's memory."
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