On Saturday night, Roman Anthony smacked the home run heard round the world.
On Monday afternoon, Anthony received the call we’ve all been waiting for.
It’s finally official — ballyhooed outfield prospect Roman Anthony is joining the Boston Red Sox, expected in time for Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. He’ll be batting fifth in his debut. The Red Sox are facing a critical part of the schedule, with the Rays (three games) and Yankees (three games) heading to Fenway Park this week. Boston currently sits fourth in the AL East, three games under .500 and 8.5 games behind New York.
Anthony, who turned 21 in May, entered the regular season ranked first or second on the main scouting clipboards — he’s widely considered the best hitting prospect in baseball. He was toying with Triple-A pitching this year, slashing .288/.423/.491 with 10 homers. The plate discipline belies someone so young; he has more walks than strikeouts. Anthony only has three steals this year, on the heels of 21 in the previous season; perhaps that was tied to an earlier shoulder issue. His hard-hit metrics are all in the red, the good side.
Anthony is the third noted Boston prospect to join the team this year. Infielder Kristian Campbell made the club out of spring training, and shortstop Marcelo Mayer was recalled two weeks ago. The cadence of the promotions speaks to the current shape of the Boston roster — the Red Sox have battled injuries and underperformance in the infield, while the outfield has mostly been healthy and productive (Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran are above-average batters, while Ceddanne Rafaela is a plus-plus defender).
Alas, Abreu is the latest Boston player to hit the shelf — he was placed on the injured list (oblique) shortly before Monday’s game — and that paved the way for Anthony’s promotion. The Red Sox surely felt pressure to promote Anthony either way, but they finally have a logical roster opening.
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While Anthony is expected to be a future star by everyone who analyzes the game, you never know how young players will respond to their first MLB action (Campbell has cooled after a quick start — though he had four hits and a homer over the weekend — while Mayer has a modest .643 OPS). But fantasy managers obviously can’t ignore the plausible upside here. Despite being less than a month from his 21st birthday, it’s possible Anthony makes a splash in his first lap around The Show.
Anthony is rostered in 46% of Yahoo leagues as we go to press. That number will spike quickly. It’s last call, gamers. Fenway Park will have some extra electricity this week.