The superstar rookie has an oblique strain that will likely cost him the rest of the regular season, but the injury has a deeper effect on the roster as a whole. 

After exiting Tuesday's win against the Cleveland Guardians with a side issue, Boston Red Sox star rookie Roman Anthony is likely set to miss the rest of the regular season with a strained oblique. The team placed him on the injured list and called up utility player Nick Sogard.

With a likely 4-6 week timeline, Anthony could be out for the entire season, depending on how far the Red Sox go into October. Even then, there's no assurances that he'll be ready to play - or contribute - to a playoff run.

While losing his .292 average and .396 on-base percentage undoubtedly hurts the batting order, Anthony's absence will also cause a profound ripple effect on the rest of the roster.

The outfield

With Anthony, Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, Rob Refsnyder, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu on the roster, the Red Sox have had an outfield log jam most of the season. It is this issue that led to the possibility of someone being traded at the deadline, but Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow elected to hold onto everyone. 

With Anthony out, that log jam is easier to handle, though Abreu is still on the injured list himself with a calf issue. At this point, Duran and Rafaela figure to be mainstays in the outfield. Refsnyder and Yoshida can platoon in the outfield, or the Red Sox can go to the prospect ranks to fill the void, perhaps eventually promoting Jhostynxon Garcia, who is one of baseball's Top 100 prospects. 

Designated hitter

When Yoshida plays, this is a spot that he usually occupies because of his defensive limitations. However, if he's forced into the outfield more often, that opens up the DH spot for someone else on the roster. But that person is not going to be a better offensive player than Anthony, so there won't be an upgrade to this spot.

Second base

Because of the outfield log jam, Rafaela has played 24 games at second base this season. However, this injury will likely put him back in the outfield full-time, which will mean a starting position at second moving forward for the speedy David Hamilton.

Up next

The Red Sox will be off on Thursday before starting a weekend series on Friday night at the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch is 9:40 p.m. ET. Boston hasn't been to the playoffs since the 2021 season.