Article: Roman Anthony Should Be On the Big League Roster Already

[Alex Mayes]

Roman Anthony has lit the minor leagues on fire for a second straight season. It's time for the Red Sox to fast-track his trip to the majors.

Let’s just get the headline out of the way: Roman Anthony needs to be on the major league roster. It’s not a controversial take, but it needs to be said anyway. Anthony is the most exciting prospect to come through the Red Sox’s system in years. He’s been can’t-miss since Boston took him in the draft, and he needs to be rewarded with a big league call-up. They’ve already waited a few games too long to cash in on the Prospect Promotion Initiative, but who cares? Call him up and let him finish his growth at the major league level.

Anthony has nothing else to prove in the minor leagues at this point. Let’s just look at his line from Thursday (4/17/25) night: a lead-off solo home run that was 107.9 mph off the bat and went 410 feet, which was then followed up by a line-drive grand slam. The major league offense is in a bit of a funk right now, and another youth injection in the form of Anthony could do a lot to wake up the rest of the lineup. Let’s look at his season-long stats so far at Worcester. He’s slashing .293/.431/.569 with 12 RBIs and two stolen bases. He’s worked a 19.4% walk rate so far this season, and while the strikeouts are a bit up there (26.4% K-rate), it’s nothing to be overly concerned about for a 20-year-old at Triple-A.

On top of the offensive ability, he’s shown that he’s at home in center field in Worcester but has the flexibility to play any outfield position. I know what you’re thinking: the Red Sox already have an outfield that profiles as one of the best in the game. That’s true, but since Wilyer Abreu’s hot start to the season, the entire outfield is performing well below expectations offensively, and Jarren Duran has been almost a liability in left field so far this season.

Anthony has been relegated to DH duties for the last week due to some shoulder discomfort, but that's not anything to be too concerned about. In fact, it could signal there's a plan for him to be on the major league roster sooner rather than later, because the Sox know once he's up that he'll need to play the field, not DH.

Current consensus has Ceddanne Rafaela headed to a utility role once Anthony does get the call, but that creates more question marks for guys like Rob Refsnyder and even Masataka Yoshida once he’s finished his rehab assignment in Triple-A. I’ve mentioned in some other articles and on The Talk Sox Podcast a handful of times that I think the far more likely outcome happens during the offseason, when Jarren Duran is traded to make room in the outfield. I know that some will disagree with that concept vehemently, which is okay. I think it’s far more likely to happen than people currently expect, but that’s an article for a different day. 

For now, let's focus on the fact Roman Anthony is still currently mashing pitching in Triple-A, and that’s not going to stop until he gets the call up to the main roster. There’s recent precedent for superstar prospects struggling in their first taste of big league action — just look at Jackson Holliday last season. Much like Holliday though, Anthony is a pure baseball player that will figure out the majors quicker than most. Call him up, shuffle the roster however you need to, and let the kids play. There’s something to be said for getting guys like Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Abreu, and Triston Casas their first taste of postseason play at such a young age.

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[notin]

And play where?

Rafaela to a utility/bench role hurts the D.  Ive argued “he bats ninth and if sent the problem,” but really that’s just “well, someone has to be worst.”

But right now Rafaela is contributing defensively.  He’s not the weak link on this team…

[Larry Cook]

I have no problem trading Duran and putting Anthony in left field!!! 
the question is who would want Duran???

[Alex Mayes]

53 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

I have no problem trading Duran and putting Anthony in left field!!! 
the question is who would want Duran???

I think most teams would line up to take him, even with him underperforming right now.

[Alex Mayes]

1 hour ago, notin said:

And play where?

Rafaela to a utility/bench role hurts the D.  Ive argued “he bats ninth and if sent the problem,” but really that’s just “well, someone has to be worst.”

But right now Rafaela is contributing defensively.  He’s not the weak link on this team…

In the Rafaela to the bench option, he likely plays center or they shift Duran to center and Anthony plays left. If Duran is traded, Anthony learns to play the Monster.

I’m not advocating for Rafaela to go to the bench, I’ve been leading the charge to trade Duran for months. 

[moonslav59]

Anthony is no Rafaela on D, but he's pretty good. He's no Refsnyder, Yoshida or Manny.

Rafaela could still play CF vs LHPs. That's over 25% or games. He can play back-up infield and late inning defense/PR duties, too.

I really like Rafaela, but Anthony deserves a chance to prove he's the best OF'er we have- right now. If he ends up 2nd or 3rd best, which is a strong possibility, especially year one, so be it.

Right now, he is DH'ing through an injury, so I'd wait for the day he gains that extra year of control, but I'd wait no longer.

[mvp 78]

He should have been on the Opening Day roster. Rafaela to UTIL role.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Alex Mayes said:

In the Rafaela to the bench option, he likely plays center or they shift Duran to center and Anthony plays left. If Duran is traded, Anthony learns to play the Monster.

I’m not advocating for Rafaela to go to the bench, I’ve been leading the charge to trade Duran for months. 

The time to trade Duran was months ago, when he was fresh off an 8 fWAR season.  Since he still makes very little, he’s still tradable.  But nowhere near what he was worth in November.

I wouldn’t trade anyone right now. 20 year old Anthony is NOT the fix for weak starts by Casas and Duran…

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Anthony is no Rafaela on D, but he's pretty good. He's no Refsnyder, Yoshida or Manny.

Rafaela could still play CF vs LHPs. That's over 25% or games. He can play back-up infield and late inning defense/PR duties, too.

I really like Rafaela, but Anthony deserves a chance to prove he's the best OF'er we have- right now. If he ends up 2nd or 3rd best, which is a strong possibility, especially year one, so be it.

Right now, he is DH'ing through an injury, so I'd wait for the day he gains that extra year of control, but I'd wait no longer.

Why is Roman Anthony the only OF who “deserves a chance”?  Does Anthony deserve a chance to prove he’s the Sox best OF more than Duran “deserves a chance” to prove 2024 was not a fluke season?  Or does Anthony serve a chance more than Rafaela deserves a chance to prove he’s the Sox can maintain his 2.8 bWAR season? Or is Anthony somehow more deserving than Wilyer Abreu?

The lure of “potential” with top prospects far too often makes fans short-sighted with regards to their own players.  A simple 0 for 4 day gets too many fans calling for a change. Fortunately teams are quite often more patient

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

How could any sane fan expect their ballclub to promote the #1 prospect in the game? At age 20?

It's so early in his life. And in Boston's season!

When the Red Sox don't play St. Louis this year (3 game-sweep, 36 to 20 in runs), they've scored an average of 3.7 runs per game and allowed 4.4. 

Maybe their top hitting prospect can help more when they're facing the AL's top pitching staffs like on the Tigers and Rangers; the Sox don't have to deal with them until May.

Fans can wait -- that's weeks away.

[moonslav59]

42 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He should have been on the Opening Day roster. Rafaela to UTIL role.

I would not have been against that idea, but now that he is DH'ing, only, we might as well wait it out.

Is the number still 171 days or less (out of a 187 day season?) If so, he's already got the extra year, right?

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

How could any sane fan expect their ballclub to promote the #1 prospect in the game? At age 20?

It's so early in his life. And in Boston's season!

When the Red Sox don't play St. Louis this year (3 game-sweep, 36 to 20 in runs), they've scored an average of 3.7 runs per game and allowed 4.4. 

Maybe their top hitting prospect can help more when they're facing the AL's top pitching staffs like on the Tigers and Rangers; the Sox don't have to deal with them until May.

Fans can wait -- that's weeks away.

I think this is about JH being a miser.

[Larry Cook]

One benefit of Anthony staying in triple A, he is seeing a good bit of left handed pitching 

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, notin said:

Why is Roman Anthony the only OF who “deserves a chance”?  Does Anthony deserve a chance to prove he’s the Sox best OF more than Duran “deserves a chance” to prove 2024 was not a fluke season?  Or does Anthony serve a chance more than Rafaela deserves a chance to prove he’s the Sox can maintain his 2.8 bWAR season? Or is Anthony somehow more deserving than Wilyer Abreu?

The lure of “potential” with top prospects far too often makes fans short-sighted with regards to their own players.  A simple 0 for 4 day gets too many fans calling for a change. Fortunately teams are quite often more patient

I never said "only." I went out of my way to say how Rafaela would still play a lot and get a further chance to prove he should play more.

BTW, today is Rafaela's 200th game. Anthony has zero. Duran has 375 and deserves a FT role (at worst a platoon.) Abreu has earned a platoon role and has played 182 games. I still think Refsnyder has earned a platoon role, but I'm okay with going with the Rafaela defense vs LHPs.

This is not about some tiny sample size by Rafaela or Abreu's bad split sample size. I think Anthony has earned a shot. I do not think Rafaela has done enough to keep Anthony from getting his chance.

The DHam-Romy platoon at 2B, last year was about as good as Rafaela has been, and we handed the job to Campbell. There is no guarantee Anthony will do as well, but I'd like see him get a long look. We can still find a way for Rafaela to play 35-45% of the innings.

[Alex Mayes]

43 minutes ago, notin said:

The time to trade Duran was months ago, when he was fresh off an 8 fWAR season.  Since he still makes very little, he’s still tradable.  But nowhere near what he was worth in November.

I wouldn’t trade anyone right now. 20 year old Anthony is NOT the fix for weak starts by Casas and Duran…

I agree, it’s why I wrote about trading him back in October. 

[moonslav59]

I don't think players lose a ton of value over a 22 game sample size, where they hit the ball hard for outs, too often.

[Larry Cook]

8 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

I agree, it’s why I wrote about trading him back in October. 

You were ahead of the curve in the Duran  call!!!  
One of the hardest things a GM has to do is try and determine if a player is a one season wonder or multi year star! 
 

I hope Duran can rebuild his status quickly, but he looks so lost at the plate!!!! 

[moonslav59]

Teams would die to trade for Duran, right now. His stock has not dropped that much. hIS HARD HIT % HAS DROPPED FROM 34% TO 29%, but the season is young. His line drive % is nearly the same.

Remember this, on April 26, 2024, Duran's OPS was .680. He's at .621, now.

I hope we keep Duran, but if we do trade him, we need to get something very nice- like maybe a catcher and a closer.

[Larry Cook]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Teams would die to trade for Duran, right now. His stock has not dropped that much. hIS HARD HIT % HAS DROPPED FROM 34% TO 29%, but the season is young. His line drive % is nearly the same.

Remember this, on April 26, 2024, Duran's OPS was .680. He's at .621, now.

I hope we keep Duran, but if we do trade him, we need to get something very nice- like maybe a catcher and a closer.

We have a luxury that few teams in baseball can match. We have one of the best hitting prospects in baseball being blocked from playing time.

there are teams in desperate need of offense out there!!!!  Maybe they have starting pitching, catching, middle relief or closer depth????
 

surely we can deal from strength to come up with a way to help the team?????

[moonslav59]

12 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

We have a luxury that few teams in baseball can match. We have one of the best hitting prospects in baseball being blocked from playing time.

there are teams in desperate need of offense out there!!!!  Maybe they have starting pitching, catching, middle relief or closer depth????
 

surely we can deal from strength to come up with a way to help the team?????

I would not trade Duran, Anthony or Abreu. I'm not sold on Rafaela remaining a FT CF'ers, especially since we already have a black hole bat at the catcher position. 

I don't think Anthony is "blocked." Rafaela could platoon with Abreu and back up 2B, SS and maybe even 3B to still be a useful part of the team. He could also PR and do some late inning defensive replacement duty.

If we trade any OF'er, it would be Rafaela, IMO. Being a RHB does nat factor in, since he hits lefties just as poorly as Duran and is not much better than Abreu v LHPs.

The "blocked" prospect is Mayer, for as long as Story stays healthy. If Bregman bolts after '25, there will be room for him, but some sort of positional shuffle will need to occur.

If we trade for an upgrade, I'd look at top RP'ers and a all around good catcher.

[drewski6]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Teams would die to trade for Duran, right now. His stock has not dropped that much. hIS HARD HIT % HAS DROPPED FROM 34% TO 29%, but the season is young. His line drive % is nearly the same.

Remember this, on April 26, 2024, Duran's OPS was .680. He's at .621, now.

I hope we keep Duran, but if we do trade him, we need to get something very nice- like maybe a catcher and a closer.

Not for the best closer and the best catcher in the league.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, drewski6 said:

Not for the best closer and the best catcher in the league.

No. Maybe, if we just get one, it could be one of the best, but not both.

We coudl also add Wong to sweeten the deal a little.

[Old Red]

5 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I would not trade Duran, Anthony or Abreu. I'm not sold on Rafaela remaining a FT CF'ers, especially since we already have a black hole bat at the catcher position. 

I don't think Anthony is "blocked." Rafaela could platoon with Abreu and back up 2B, SS and maybe even 3B to still be a useful part of the team. He could also PR and do some late inning defensive replacement duty.

If we trade any OF'er, it would be Rafaela, IMO. Being a RHB does nat factor in, since he hits lefties just as poorly as Duran and is not much better than Abreu v LHPs.

The "blocked" prospect is Mayer, for as long as Story stays healthy. If Bregman bolts after '25, there will be room for him, but some sort of positional shuffle will need to occur.

If we trade for an upgrade, I'd look at top RP'ers and a all around good catcher.

NOBODY should be untouchable in a trade to make the team better, which would most likely be more pitching. Duran, Anthony, and Abreu are certainly not Rice, Lynne, or Evans, or Yaz, Reggie Smith, or Tony C for that matter. 

[moonslav59]

34 minutes ago, Old Red said:

NOBODY should be untouchable in a trade to make the team better, which would most likely be more pitching. Duran, Anthony, and Abreu are certainly not Rice, Lynne, or Evans, or Yaz, Reggie Smith, or Tony C for that matter. 

I've always maintained I'd trade any player for a better return.

[Kimmi]

On 4/20/2025 at 1:41 PM, notin said:

The time to trade Duran was months ago, when he was fresh off an 8 fWAR season.  Since he still makes very little, he’s still tradable.  But nowhere near what he was worth in November.

I wouldn’t trade anyone right now. 20 year old Anthony is NOT the fix for weak starts by Casas and Duran…

Now is not the time to trade anyone, nor is it the time to "force" anything by calling up Anthony.  Anthony will get his chance.  The team needs to get Casas going right.  You're right, calling up Anthony will not fix that.

[Kimmi]

On 4/20/2025 at 1:58 PM, notin said:

Why is Roman Anthony the only OF who “deserves a chance”?  Does Anthony deserve a chance to prove he’s the Sox best OF more than Duran “deserves a chance” to prove 2024 was not a fluke season?  Or does Anthony serve a chance more than Rafaela deserves a chance to prove he’s the Sox can maintain his 2.8 bWAR season? Or is Anthony somehow more deserving than Wilyer Abreu?

The lure of “potential” with top prospects far too often makes fans short-sighted with regards to their own players.  A simple 0 for 4 day gets too many fans calling for a change. Fortunately teams are quite often more patient

Thank you for this post.

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Now is not the time to trade anyone, nor is it the time to "force" anything by calling up Anthony.  Anthony will get his chance.  The team needs to get Casas going right.  You're right, calling up Anthony will not fix that.

Agree on this. I’ve said this before, but it seems Anthony, and Mayer are like money burning a hole in your pocket, and you just have to spend it, or in this case Mayer, and Anthony just have to be called up. They will get their chances.  Casas needs to get going, but so does Rafffy. 

[Kimmi]

6 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Agree on this. I’ve said this before, but it seems Anthony, and Mayer are like money burning a hole in your pocket, and you just have to spend it, or in this case Mayer, and Anthony just have to be called up. They will get their chances.  Casas needs to get going, but so does Rafffy. 

Casas, Devers, Duran, and even Wilyer after his very hot start, all need to start hitting like we think they are capable of doing.  It's interesting that it's been our right-handed bats, Bregman, Story, and Campbell, (and even Romy and Refsnyder in their very limited at bats) that have been performing.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Kimmi said:

Now is not the time to trade anyone, nor is it the time to "force" anything by calling up Anthony.  Anthony will get his chance.  The team needs to get Casas going right.  You're right, calling up Anthony will not fix that.

I don't see calling up Anthony as any kind of "force."

1. We are not benching Rafaela for Anthony: he would still play a very significant role. (Platoon w Abreu and play some SS, 2B, 3B, PR and late game defense.) He could still work his way back into more playing time.

2. Rafaela has played 200 games and has over 720 career PAs. I'm not sure what another 50, 100 or 250 would prove. Even if he improves his offense, Anthony could still very well produce more.

3. We don't need to, nor should we trade any OF'er or Casas. Anthony has enormous potential to provide a huge plus to a teams struggling on offense. This is not some roll of the dice. Anthony is the top prospect in America and is widely viewed as ML ready, yesterday. He's got nothing more to prove in AAA.

I'm okay waiting until his shoulder is healed and he's played some more OF before calling him up.

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I've always maintained I'd trade any player for a better return.

Not picking on you, but everybody says this.  I've never heard anyone say they wouldn't trade Player A even if they knew the return was better.  

OTOH, what GM is going to trade you something they know is better than what they're getting back?