1 month ago
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The Boston Red Sox are calling up outfielder Roman Anthony, the No. 1 imaginable successful baseball, hopeful helium tin supply a jolt to a squad that has disappointed implicit the season's archetypal 67 games, manager Alex Cora confirmed connected Monday.
Anthony volition commencement and bat 5th successful Monday's crippled against the Tampa Bay Rays, Cora said.
Anthony, 21, volition get successful the large leagues with polish uncommon for a subordinate his age. A second-round draught prime successful 2022, helium blitzed done the insignificant leagues, reaching Double-A successful his archetypal afloat play successful 2023, dominating betwixt Double-A and Triple-A successful 2024 and crushing Triple-A pitching with his saccharine left-handed plaything this season.
Calls for his promotion were resounding among Red Sox fans, whose vexation with a 32-35 commencement near them looking to Anthony arsenic a imaginable solution to their ills.
Boston was loath to summon Anthony, with main shot serviceman Craig Breslow suggesting helium needed much acquisition successful near tract and less balls deed connected the ground. His accomplishment comes connected the heels of a 497-foot expansive slam - the longest shot deed astatine immoderate level of organized shot this play - for Triple-A Worcester implicit the weekend.
Anthony deed .288/.423/.491 astatine Triple-A with 10 location runs and 29 RBIs successful 265 sheet appearances. Known arsenic overmuch for his discerning oculus arsenic his immense power, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Anthony walked 51 times and struck retired 56 for Worcester.
Where helium volition play with the Red Sox is simply a question that has vexed squad officials - and contributed to him not already having joined infielders Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, with whom Anthony comprised the alleged Big 3, successful the large leagues. Boston has All-Star Jarren Duran successful near field, Gold Glove campaigner Ceddanne Rafaela successful halfway tract and Wilyer Abreu, whose bat has thrived this season, successful close field.
Boston nevertheless deemed present the close clip to telephone up Anthony. By delaying his promotion until now, Anthony volition not beryllium eligible for escaped bureau until aft the 2031 play - unless helium wins American League Rookie of the Year, which would travel with a afloat twelvemonth of work clip and propulsion his timepiece up to the 2030 season. Absent the award, Anthony besides could miss being a Super 2, a class designated for the players successful each people with the astir work time. Avoiding Super 2 status, which gives players a 4th twelvemonth of negotiating their wage via arbitration, could prevention Boston upward of $10 million.
Multiple officials and players successful the Red Sox enactment were clamoring for Anthony to caput to Fenway Park good earlier Monday. His leap from Low-A to High-A to Double-A successful 2023 placed him among the imaginable elite passim baseball, and Anthony has done thing to disqualify himself from that since.
He much than held his ain astatine the apical 2 levels of the insignificant leagues past twelvemonth arsenic a 20-year-old, finishing with a .291/.396/.498 enactment with 18 location runs and 21 stolen bases past season. Particularly awesome was his strike-zone subject and plaything decisions. Anthony's complaint of swinging astatine pitches extracurricular of the onslaught portion astatine Triple-A this twelvemonth would fertile among the champion successful the large leagues.
Boston could find country for him successful the lineup by moving Rafaela to 2nd basal - wherever helium has played regularly - and sliding Campbell implicit to archetypal base. Boston mislaid its archetypal baseman, Triston Casas, to a season-ending genu wounded and besides is playing without arguably its champion player, 3rd baseman Alex Bregman, who is retired with a strained quadriceps.
A fig of Red Sox players, from Bregman to caller ace Garrett Crochet to catcher Carlos Narvaez, person exceeded expectations this play - and Boston has inactive struggled. The Red Sox pb MLB successful errors and person a 6-17 grounds successful one-run games. Only Atlanta has much one-run losses with 19, and lone the Chicago White Sox, astatine 4-16, person a worse one-run record.
