Article: Which Outfield Permutation Should the Red Sox Choose Following Roman Anthony's Injury?

[Nick John]

Following the revelation that Roman Anthony's oblique injury will require an extended stay on the injured list, the Red Sox are now being forced to reconsider how their outfield will look each night as the team continues to fight to retain a playoff spot in the final month of the season.

Prior to his injury, Anthony had rotated between left field, right field and designated hitter, though since Wilyer Abreu went on the injured list himself, Anthony had mostly played right field. During this time, the Red Sox main outfield alignment had been Jarren Duran in left field, Ceddanne Rafaela in center, and Anthony in right field. That will have to change now.

In the immediate response, the team inserted Nate Eaton as a defensive replacement Tuesday night when Anthony left injured. Eaton himself is a valuable piece off the bench for his ability to hit left-handed pitching and his speed, but is a liability against right-handed pitching. In 137 plate appearances against same-sided arms, Eaton is hitting .195/.263/.244 in his career. For what it's worth, Rob Refsnyder played right field the following night, though that came against a left-handed starter. We still have yet to see which permutation Alex Cora chooses to roll with on a nightly basis.

Because of the injury, the Red Sox are in a curious situation. They have a lot of moveable pieces in the lineup to cover multiple positions, but they won’t be able to replace Anthony’s production. Currently on the roster, they have five players who could slot into the outfield, and that number can be raised to seven in the event of an emergency thanks to outfield experience held by both Romy González and Nick Sogard, though neither should be counted on for major innings in the outfield.

At the moment, the Red Sox could very well run out an outfield of Duran in left field, Rafaela in center field and Rob Refsnyder playing right field , just as they did Wednesday night. While Refsnyder is more of a platoon bat due to his elite ability to hit left-handed pitching compared to his more pedestrian numbers against right-handed pitching (.304/.397/.559 against left-handers vs .229/.275/.333 against right handers this season), he can serve as a decent stopgap in the lineup until Abreu returns.

While that may not excite fans, it may be their best lineup. There is a concept where the team could bring Kristian Campbell up and put him in left field, therefore sliding Duran to center field and Rafaela to right, but it wouldn’t be the best idea. Campbell has been a mixed bag since his demotion to Triple-A Worcester in late June. While his numbers look good on the surface level (.268/.381/.436 in 59 games), the underlying metrics show that he hasn’t improved as the Red Sox hoped when they sent him to Worcester to work on things. His exit velocity is in the bottom-tenth percentile at 83.8 mph, and he’s only barreling up the ball at a 4.6% rate, which would not work out well in the major leagues. Even his expected batting average (.206 xBA) shows he’s been very lucky thanks to his soft hits. Campbell needs to stay in Worcester barring an unforeseen injury happening to another member of the Boston Red Sox.

This all does raise the question of whether Jhostynxon Garcia should get another shot with the Red Sox. Realistically he would be a better addition offensively over the likes of Sogard and Eaton from just his power alone. However, the previously mentioned duo provide versatility that Garcia cannot—they both can play the infield as well. Garcia also seemed to struggle in his short time in the majors, getting just one hit in seven at-bats while striking out five times. There’s no denying Garcia’s potential as he demolishes Triple-A pitching, but right now the Red Sox cannot afford to provide him with a long leash in the majors (and by playing with a short leash, they could cause future issues by destroying his confidence). Also, since his demotion, Garcia has been in a bit of a slump, having just one hit in 20 at-bats along with 10 strikeouts in that span.

Masataka Yoshida is another option in the outfield if the Red Sox want to go that way, but it seems highly unlikely. Originally, the starting left fielder when signed back in 2023, Yoshida played just a single inning in the outfield in 2024, which the team stated was due to him needing shoulder surgery. After missing most of 2025 while rehabbing from the surgery, Yoshida has only been used in left field sparingly, as he’s appeared in four games in the field. Should the Red Sox feel he would be a better option in the outfield than as a designated hitter now that Anthony is on the injured list, we may see him out there more (though we all know we won’t) until Abreu returns.

For the time being, getting Refsnyder more frequent playing time may be Boston’s best solution for how to handle the outfield, at least until Abreu returns from the injured list. Once that happens Boston will return to their outfield from the beginning of the season.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, they have various options to try and plug into the lineup should Refsnyder be unable to handle playing every day or is outmatched against right-handed pitchers. The team will figure something out and while the solution won’t be as good as having Anthony in the lineup every night, it’ll be a decent band-aid for the time being.

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[notin]

Recall Password (Ghost) and put him in RF.  Other than Eaton, he’s the only defensive option.  And Jhostnyxon, unlike Eaton, at least has offensive potential.  If not actual offense…

[Maxbialystock]

No argument with the OP's analysis.  However, the simple fact is that losing the bats of both Anthony and Abreu has had an effect on the lineup.   

A related issue is that the Sox rotation and bullpen both looked awful last night, and pitching is the real strength of this team.

Given the above, who the heck cares whether Ref plays RF or Garcia is brought up or whatever?  

[notin]

40 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

No argument with the OP's analysis.  However, the simple fact is that losing the bats of both Anthony and Abreu has had an effect on the lineup.   

A related issue is that the Sox rotation and bullpen both looked awful last night, and pitching is the real strength of this team.

Given the above, who the heck cares whether Ref plays RF or Garcia is brought up or whatever?  

Because it’s one game, and one started by a rookie making his second start.  I wouldn’t condemn the rotation based on one bad full turn, let alone one bad individual start…

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Recall Password (Ghost) and put him in RF.  Other than Eaton, he’s the only defensive option.  And Jhostnyxon, unlike Eaton, at least has offensive potential.  If not actual offense…

I've been for bringing Jh Garcia since Sept 1st.  It was painful seeing last night's game chances (at least at the time) come down to needing a big hit from Eaton.

LF: Duran

CF: Rafaela

RF: Jh Garcia (if and when Abreu returns: Abreu v R and Jh Garcia v L w Ref at DH v L)

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Anthony in LF (replaced by Refsnyder), Duran in CF and Rafaela in RF.

Prototypical players at each position.

Anthony the power hitter with the least speed in the outfield.

Duran the prototypical CF with speed, fearless and a solid arm.

Rafaela with speed, fearless and the best outfield arm.

Most people remember that Mookie was the same as Rafaela defensively.  Best arm, fearless and fast.

Most people remember JBJ like Duran but Duran hits better and steals more bases.

Most people remember Williams, Yaz, Rice and now Anthony as the top hitter who had the least outfield speed during their years on the team.

This should be a no brainer but since Cora has no brain he will never figure it out!!!  And the defense will never be maximized, like the days with Devers at 3B.  We all see how maximizing infield defense makes such a huge difference with Bregman, when will someone finally tell Cora to wake up and smell the roses in the outfield?  Probably never and he's not going to figure it out, that takes baseball acumen which he lacks completely.

[Maxbialystock]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Because it’s one game, and one started by a rookie making his second start.  I wouldn’t condemn the rotation based on one bad full turn, let alone one bad individual start…

I'm not talking about 1 game.  In the last 5 starts, including last night, only Giolito had a good game.  

I completely agree we should not condemn Tolle for last night--an away game against a very good hitting Diamondbacks team. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Maxbialystock said:

I'm not talking about 1 game.  In the last 5 starts, including last night, only Giolito had a good game.  

I completely agree we should not condemn Tolle for last night--an away game against a very good hitting Diamondbacks team. 

Nor should we justify the worst batter in MLB vs LHPs in the line-up based on one AB and a triple.