Boston Red Sox Put Roman Anthony in Unfair Position in 2026

Roman Anthony was one of the more hyped prospects in Boston Red Sox history. The 22-year-old was the first No. 1 overall prospect Boston had since 2017, when outfielder Andrew Benintendi held down the top spot in MLB Pipeline’s top 100. That hype only built when the then-21-year-old made his debut in 2025, hitting .292/.396/.463/.855 in his first 71 games before an oblique injury prematurely ended his season. 

Expectations peaked for the young outfielder throughout the offseason as the team missed out on big-name free-agent bats, including Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber, and Alex Bregman, making it clear Anthony was expected to be the team’s offensive heartbeat. 

A notion the team played into: “The guy’s legit,” said former manager Alex Cora about his now-former player on the ‘Section 10’ Podcast in a November 2025 appearance. “I think the way he controls the strike zone, very similar to [Juan] Soto when he came up… He reminds me of Soto when he was a young kid,” he continued. 

While a lofty comparison on its own, it’s worth noting that when the Washington Nationals promoted Soto in 2018, he joined a lineup that already featured stars like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Anthony Rendon. The Nationals did not promote Soto with the expectation that he would have to carry the offense in his first full season the way Anthony did. 

Still, the Red Sox entered the season expecting Anthony to be the driving force of their offense. In his first 30 games, Anthony hit just .229/.354/.321/.675 with only seven extra-base hits, struggling to adapt to the new approach opposing pitchers were taking against him. 

“I think when you get to the big leagues, it’s kinda like, ‘Alright, he’s a rookie, let’s test him. Let’s see how many heaters we can throw by him… And I think last year I took advantage of that,” Anthony told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the ‘Baseball Isn’t Boring’ Podcast on May 3. “The more at-bats you get, the more sample size there is, the more cold zones there are, right? And the more they’re able to find what you don’t slug in. And I think I’m starting to get that more this year,” he continued. 

Then came a prolonged injury absence. On May 4, Anthony suffered what was initially deemed a right wrist sprain that was expected to keep him out of the lineup for a few days. Those few days turned into what was expected to be a minimum stay on the 10-day injured list, but it became a trip to the 60-day injured list. And with it came endless discussion about whether or not he was willing to play through pain. 

After a series of communication blunders from the team, which insisted the injury was just a sprain, the narrative formed that he was "soft." Anthony himself had to clarify that he had a ligament tear in his right ring finger and that doctors had told him the recovery timeline could take as long as three months. 

As the Red Sox offense began to sputter in mid-August, Anthony finally returned to the lineup on Aug. 30, being activated from the injured list after a 101-game absence. Shortly after his return, Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela both landed on the injured list, putting pressure on Anthony to step up and carry the offense. 

In 23 games in September, Anthony hit just .242/.301/.432/.733 with four home runs, four doubles, and one triple, driving in 10 runs. A fine performance, but still a far cry from the MVP candidate the team was expecting him to be entering the year.  

After a 0-for-2 performance in Game 1 of the Wild Card series against the New York Yankees, Anthony was removed in the sixth inning after reaggravating his right-hand injury and was subsequently removed from the postseason roster. With Anthony being ruled out for the remainder of the series, the Red Sox fate was all but sealed. 

In Monday's end-of-season press conference, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow was asked several questions about the state of the offense heading into the offseason and where they could improve. In almost every answer, Breslow discussed how Anthony, along with Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu, taking steps forward in 2027 would provide a massive boost to the offense. 

However, Breslow needs to learn from his 2026 mistake; running it back with the same offense and expecting a full season and a step forward from Anthony will only put the same pressure on him he felt entering the season. The 22-year-old will be a great player for a long time, but it hasn't happened yet, and it may never happen if he continues to be seen as the driving force on the offense in what would be his first full big-league season.