Coming into the 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox turned to former top prospect Roman Anthony, turning 22 years old in May, to be the centerpiece of their offense. However, now nearly two months into the season, both Anthony and the Red Sox have been a disappointment.
Anthony has been on the IL now since May 4th. He suffered an injury to his wrist on a swing, but even before that, he admitted things weren’t going the way he’d hoped.
“Kind of a letdown, honestly,” Anthony said, per The Boston Globe. “Short sample size, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be.”
In 30 games, Anthony is hitting .229 with a .354 OBP. He’s also slugging .321 for a .675 OPS. Those numbers are all down from his rookie season in 2025. Anthony also only has 1 home run and 5 RBI, as elevating the ball has proven to be a major issue.
For his career, Anthony has a 50% ground ball rate. That’s something that Anthony knows he needs to overcome and goes back to how he’s seeing the ball at the plate.
“When I’m at my best, my swing decisions are great,” Anthony said. “When you’re swinging at good pitches, you have a better chance of hitting the ball in the air, and you have a better chance of doing what you want to do.”
Kansas City Royals Star Bobby Witt Jr. Praised Roman Anthony
GettyBoston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony
The Boston Red Sox were recently in Kansas City for a three-game series against the Royals. There, they managed to pull off a sweep, in a rare bit of success for the Red Sox this season. It also gave Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. an opportunity to praise Roman Anthony, comparing himself to the young Red Sox talent.
“A lot of just the personality … and how he is, how he carries himself, and just how he’s a true big leaguer,” Witt said, per MassLive. “We’re not really that loud or over-talkative, whatever. We like to enjoy the game, have fun, and we’re competitive. We want to win, and we want to work.”
Early in their careers, Anthony has actually outplayed Witt, though suffered more injury issues as well. In Witt’s first season, he played 150 games and managed to hit .254 with a .722 OPS that season. So far, Anthony has played in 101 career games, hitting .273 with an .804 OPS.
There’s plenty of reason to praise Anthony in there, even if he’s had some struggles too. In particular, Witt praised him for his at-bats.
“I think it’s just the at-bats he takes,” Witt said. “They’re professional at-bats, they’re big league at-bats. Anytime he’s up there you know he’s going to put together a good at-bat. And even just a guy that just didn’t know he was going to be on Team USA and then was just kind of thrown in there, thrown right into the starting role. And then the at-bats he took, kind of how he was, it was just great.”
Witt knows that transitioning to the majors is difficult. So, he thinks the trick is finding a way to perfect Anthony’s approach.
“Every day you’re facing a stud out there, and so it’s just knowing how you can combat that with how you think they’re gonna pitch you, how you’re gonna attack them,” Witt said. “And then just doing it every day, trying to be as consistent as possible, keeping yourself in a good spot and going out there and just enjoying the moment and just attacking.
Roman Anthony Recently Suffered an Injury Setback
GettyBoston Red Sox OF Roman Anthony speaks to a trainer
The Boston Red Sox recently had Roman Anthony start swinging a bat again. However, he felt some soreness while doing so, suffering a setback in the process. The Red Sox shut him down, and interim manager Chad Tracy would explain the decision.
“He swung a little bit and felt some soreness,” Tracy said. “For the time being, we’re going to back off until we get through the off day. Obviously, you don’t want him swinging through soreness and discomfort. It’s not great news today, but we’ll back off and see how he responds after the off day with a few more days of rest.”
It’s now unclear when Anthony will be able to return for the Red Sox. When he does, though, Anthony knows he’ll again have an opportunity to make an impact on Boston.
“Whenever I come back, there’s still going to be a lot of baseball left, a whole lot more than I’ve played already,” Anthony said.
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