Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony has found himself back on the injured list. Is he slowly becoming injury-prone, or just the subject of bad luck?
Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony entered the 2026 season with the expectation that he would carry the Boston offense. Through the first 39 games of the season, Anthony has greatly underwhelmed, and now he finds himself missing time for the second time this season.
It has been a struggle at the plate for the 21-year-old, slashing .229/.354/.321 with an OPS+ that is just below league average at 95. Anthony had shown signs of breaking out before missing four games after tweaking something in his back, from April 22-26.
Anthony had played eight games since returning from injury, hitting .241 and once again showing signs that a breakout was imminent. Then, once again, the injury bug struck. Anthony exited the Red Sox' 5-4 Monday night win over the Tigers with a right wrist sprain, suffered swinging awkwardly at a pitch. After missing the remaining two games of the Tigers series, Anthony was placed on the 10-day injured list.
This trip to the IL marks the second trip for Anthony in his brief time in the big leagues. Anthony missed the final 25 games of the 2025 season with an oblique strain, another injury sustained from an awkward swing.
Cause for concern?
Any time your star player lands on the injured list, there is always cause for concern. But the manner in which Anthony has sustained his injuries is certainly raising some alarm bells. According to BaseballSavant, Anthony has one of the hardest swings in the league, at 75.6 m.p.h. ranking in the 92nd percentile among all qualified hitters. Each time he has been injured and missed games, the injury has occurred on a swing, suggesting that the force with which he swings could be contributing to some of his injury issues.
The Red Sox have placed greater emphasis on advanced metrics, such as bat speed, under Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow as a part of the player development program's relationship with the Driveline organization. The idea behind the elite bat speed is simple: the harder you impact the baseball, the higher the exit velocity will be.
The drawback, of course, is that the harder you swing, the more force you exert in your core and arms. Now Anthony has injured himself three times while swinging and feeling something in either his core, back, or arms.
According to the Boston Globe's Tim Healey, Anthony expects to be ready by Friday, May 15, the first day he is eligible. It doesn't seem fair to give him an injury-prone label yet, but there is certainly something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
The Red Sox and Rays were rained out on Saturday afternoon. They will make up the game in a July 17 doubleheader. They'll square off in the rubber match of this now three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park at 1:35 p.m. ET.
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