Roman Anthony crushed a two-run homer in his first rehab game Tuesday, giving the Boston Red Sox a jolt of encouragement after 106 days on the shelf.
The blast came after Anthony reached base twice to open his rehab debut, offering the clearest sign yet that his long-injured right hand can still catch up to velocity.
Hitting in the designated hitter slot and batting second for Double-A Portland, Anthony reached base twice before launching a two-run shot to left-center against the Reading Fightin Phils, off right-hander Bryan Rincon, following a walk and a single in his first two trips to the plate. The ball came off the bat at 108 mph.
Anthony certainly sent a powerful message about his readiness, reaching base all four times he came to the plate, with two walks bookending the single and the massive home run.
Roman Anthony’s Rehab Debut and Return Timeline
“I was driving here today, and it just felt weird to finally be here,” Anthony said, according to The Boston Globe. “It’s been a long, long process for me, and took a lot longer than I could have expected when I first did it.”
Anthony turned heads well before the first pitch, too, lofting balls off the scoreboard in left-center during batting practice. “Even during BP, the ball just sounds different coming off his bat,” interim Sea Dogs manager Kyle Sasala said, according to The Boston Globe.
Interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said Anthony is expected to reclaim the everyday leadoff role and split time between left field and designated hitter once he’s activated, according to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Boston’s leadoff hitters have batted just .215 with a .292 on-base percentage since Anthony went down, giving the club extra incentive to get him back atop the order.
How long Anthony stays in Portland remains unclear. The Sea Dogs expect him to stick around at least through the week to rebuild his timing, and Tracy has suggested Anthony could need more time on the farm than fellow rehabbing infielder Trevor Story before he’s activated.
Roman Anthony’s Injury History and Path Back
Anthony’s absence dates to May 4, when he took an awkward check-swing against Detroit that was initially labeled a right wrist sprain before doctors identified a partially torn ligament at the base of his right ring finger. He landed on the 10-day injured list May 7 and was shifted to the 60-day injured list June 28, spending much of the summer rehabbing at Boston’s complex in Fort Myers, Florida, before he resumed swinging again in late July.
It wasn’t Anthony’s first extended absence. A left oblique strain ended his rookie season in September 2025, keeping him out of Boston’s postseason run entirely.
Anthony, the Red Sox’s second-round pick out of Stoneman Douglas High School in 2022, spent parts of four seasons climbing through Boston’s farm system before debuting in the majors on June 9, 2025. He hit .292 with eight home runs and 32 RBI in 71 games as a rookie, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. That performance helped land him an eight-year extension with the Red Sox last August. He also earned a spot on Team USA for this year’s World Baseball Classic, further cementing his status as one of the sport’s most closely watched young hitters heading into 2026.
Anthony made Boston’s Opening Day roster as the everyday leadoff hitter this year and was batting .229 with one home run and five RBI in 30 games before the injury derailed his season. Now, at 22, he’s chasing his way back to a Red Sox team in the middle of a playoff push, with one rehab-game homer already shaping the conversation around when he gets there.
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