Roman Anthony goes hitless but logs first RBI in Red Sox debut after whirlwind day
Roman Anthony was ready to get on a bus and make a four-hour trip to Lehigh Valley, Pa. on Monday with the Worcester Red Sox. But he received a phone call just before the trek that gave him a new destination: Fenway Park in Boston.
The top prospect in all of baseball had finally received his promotion to the Majors Leagues, and now had to get to Boston for his professional debut. The only problem was most of his stuff was packed away on the WooSox bus, so the 21-year-old had to borrow a glove and some cleats from a teammate before hopping in his car and racing to Boston.
It wasn't exactly how Anthony envisioned making his MLB debut, but that's usually how life goes. At least Anthony had one of his bats and hit the traffic jackpot on his way to the city. He arrived at Fenway Park a little after 5 p.m., and then held court with reporters in the Red Sox dugout before his debut.
"There wasn't too much traffic," Anthony joked with reporters. "A little bit of a short notice, but better than being on the bus to Lehigh Valley."
Wearing No. 48 for Boston, Anthony was thrown right into the fire on a misty and foggy night at Fenway Park. Alex Cora had him hit fifth in the order, and Anthony went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, a walk, and his first career RBI late in the game. Though he didn't log his first hit, Anthony made good contract twice and showed a lot of poise and patience as he drew his first career walk.
He played out of position in right field in place of the injured Wilyer Abreu, where Anthony committed an error in the top of the fifth. The Red Sox lost, 10-8, in 11 innings, but Anthony said it was nice to get his debut out of the way. Now he can focus on simply playing baseball in the big leagues.
"It was awesome," Anthony said of his debut. "It was nice to just take the field and forget all of the outside noise. But it was unfortunate we couldn't get a win."
The future of the Red Sox is now in the big leagues, and developing Anthony (along with Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell) should be the goal the rest of the year. Anthony became the youngest Red Sox player with an RBI since Rafael Devers drove in a run as a 20-year-old in 2017. Anthony is the youngest player to drive in a run in their MLB debut since Luis Alvarado did so at 19 in 1968.
Roman Anthony's MLB Debut
In his first at-bat in the bottom of the second, Anthony stepped to the plate with one on and no outs against Rays starter Shane Baz. He held off swinging at a high fastball on the first pitch he saw as a Major Leaguer, but then popped out to left field on the second pitch.
In his second at-bat with no one on and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Anthony sent a rocket back off Baz on a 2-1 fastball. The ball left his bat at 111 mph, caromed off the pitcher and went right to Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, who threw on to first to retire Anthony. It went in the scorebook as a 1-5-3 putout.
Anthony had a chance to make some real noise in his third at-bat, when he stepped to the dish with runners on first and second and no outs with Boston trailing, 3-1, in the bottom of the sixth. Kevin Cash brought in lefty Garrett Cleavinger, and Anthony remained in the game to face the southpaw.
The rookie fell behind 0-2 on two straight sinkers, but didn't chase a Cleavinger sweeper out of the zone to make it a 1-2 count. The reliever then froze Anthony with an 80 mph sweeper that looked like it was going to hit him, but broke down the middle for the strikeout. Romy Gonzalez doubled two batters later to tie the game, 3-3.
Anthony was back up in the bottom of the seventh after a Trevor Story RBI single cut Boston's deficit to 6-5. He got ahead in the count 2-0, but then watched two strikes by righty Manuel Rodriguez. He worked the count full (as Story stole second) and drew a walk, as Anthony never swung the bat. The 21-year-old showed some great plate discipline to lay off some appetizing sliders from the Rays reliever.
Anthony had a chance for some heroics in the bottom of the ninth. He stepped to the plate with Boston down 7-5 with runners on second and third and one out against Rays righty Pete Fairbanks. He watched a slider for strike one, and then hit it hard up the middle on the second pitch. Shortstop Taylor Walls was able to gun Anthony down at first, but Devers scored to give Anthony his first career RBI and make it a 7-6 ballgame
Campbell chopped an infield single to score the tying run for Boston and send the game to extras. Anthony was lifted for pinch hitter Rob Refsnyder in the 11th, and though he was 0-for-4, the phenom was happy with his at-bats in his debut.
"I thought I swung at good pitches, unfortunate some of those balls couldn't skip up the middle and drive more runs in," said Anthony. "But I felt like I did a good job of putting the bat on the ball and trying to get guys in."
"Good," Cora said of Anthony's debut. "Being able to slow it down. The walk, hit the ball hard twice, stayed up the middle, didn't try to do too much. It was a good first day."
Roman Anthony's fielding error
Anthony only played four games in right field for the WooSox, and hadn't played the position since early May until Monday night. Fenway Park has one of the most difficult right fields in all of baseball, so it was a tall task for a rookie in his debut.
Anthony had a costly miscue in right in the top of the fifth, when he let a ball off the bat of Yandy Diaz get under his glove. He misplayed the ball, trying to field it from the side rather than head on, which allowed Brandon Lowe to score all the way from first and put Tampa on top, 3-0, at the time.
"Just can't happen," Anthony said of his error. "I've dealt with that skip a million times in my career, and it's tough to get in a game like that. You feel like that's the reason why we lost, little things like that."
Who is Roman Anthony?
Anthony was called up Monday after he slashed 288/.423/.491 with 10 home runs, nine doubles, and 29 RBI for the WooSox this season. In 2024, Anthony put up a .291/.396/.498 line with 18 homers, 32 doubles, four triples, 65 RBI, 93 runs scored, and 21 stolen bases over 119 games between Worcester and Double-A Portland.
Anthony was drafted by Boston 79th overall (second round) in the 2022 Draft out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
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