Ahead of Sunday afternoon’s series finale in New York, the Boston Red Sox activated outfielder Roman Anthony from the 60-day injured list to make his long-awaited return to the lineup. With an already crowded outfield picture, how does the 22-year-old phenom fit into interim manager Chad Tracy’s plans for the final month of the regular season? 

While the Red Sox offense ranks second in baseball in runs scored (145) in the month of August, they’ve struggled to score runs over the last week, scoring just 19 times in the first six games of a seven-game road trip that concludes on Sunday, including two shutout losses. Much like earlier in the season, the Boston lineup has struggled with runners in scoring position, going just 15-for-75 (.200) over the last seven games. 

Despite his underwhelming slash line of .229/.354/.321/.675 in 30 games before landing on the injured list, Anthony’s performance with Team USA at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, paired with his underlying metrics, signaled he was on the cusp of breaking out in a major way at the plate.  

Despite the Red Sox' offensive success since July 1, the team has had a glaring hole atop the lineup with no player grabbing hold of the leadoff spot. Former manager Alex Cora and interim manager Chad Tracy have used several players at leadoff, including Anthony, Jarren Duran, Mickey Gasper, Masataka Yoshida, and Nick Sogard, just to name a few; however, no one has taken advantage of the opportunity and held the position. The Red Sox leadoff hitters enter Sunday’s finale ranking in the bottom 10 in baseball in batting average (.223, 28th), on-base percentage (.306, 27th), slugging percentage (.366, 27th), OPS (.673, 27th) and weighted runs created plus (87, 28th). 

Tracy told reporters, including Christopher Smith of MassLive.com, that the plan was for Anthony to lead off upon his return, though it was unclear whether or not he would lead off against both right- and left-handed pitchers.

In 22 games in the leadoff spot in 2026, Anthony hit .214/.347/.274/.620 with three doubles, one triple, driving in three runs, and scoring 10. 

Anthony will leadoff and serve as the designated hitter as the Red Sox look to salvage a series split in the Bronx in Sunday’s series finale. The winner of that matchup will clinch the season series and a potential playoff tiebreaker. Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.35 ERA) will get the start for the Red Sox opposite Will Warren (8-6, 4.39 ERA) for New York. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 1:35 p.m. ET.