Red Sox
“I’ve never seen one game, one moment of him being overmatched or overwhelmed.”
PORTLAND, Maine — Roman Anthony was still facing high-school pitching just two years ago.
When Anthony was born in May 2004, Pedro Martinez was in his final year with the Red Sox, David Ortiz was 28 and Boston was in the midst of a season for the ages.
Anthony just turned 20 on May 13, becoming the first Red Sox prospect to punch his ticket to Double-A Portland since Xander Bogaerts in 2012.
But even with his limited reps in Boston’s farm system, his relative inexperience isn’t reflected in his approach at the plate, nor his demeanor in the midst of his second full season of pro baseball.
That even-keel mindset has played a major part in why he’s established himself as one of MLB’s best prospects in record time.
“I think it goes with everything he does — like on and off the field. He’s beyond his age, like the way he carries himself,” Portland manager Chad Epperson said of Anthony. “He’s been in Portland for parts of two seasons, and I’ve never seen one game, one moment of him being overmatched or overwhelmed or rattled by anything. And I just think this is who he is.
“Or he has a good way of hiding it, I can tell you that. But he’s aggressive. And when he’s selectively aggressive at the plate, he does a lot of damage. He can go back side, he’s shown the ability to do that. We all know the pull-side pop is there. But when his swing decisions are on? It’s impressive, at 20 years old, the damage this kid does.”
Taken in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, Anthony was viewed as a tantalizing prospect due to his advanced hit tools. Still, he wasn’t tabbed as one of baseball’s true blue-chip prospects going into the 2023 season.
That sentiment changed in short order as he advanced from low-A Salem to Double-A Portland in the span of a few months.
“Outfielder Roman Anthony isn’t just Boston’s breakout prospect this year, he might be the biggest breakout prospect in all of the minors,” The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote in September.
Once on the outside looking at MLB’s top 100 prospects, Anthony is now tabbed as the No. 16 prospect in baseball, and the No. 2 player within Boston’s farm system.
Anthony’s knack for extending at-bats and generating high exit velocity on batted balls allowed him to advance quickly through both Salem and Greenville. But in Portland, that approach has continued to lead to strong returns against elevated pitching.
Over his 10 games with the Sea Dogs last season, Anthony batted .343 with four doubles, one home run, and eight RBI — working eight walks over 44 plate appearances while only striking out twice.
The 2024 season has brought about a few more hurdles for Anthony in his first full season against Double-A pitching. After batting just .205 in April with two home runs, five RBI, and 28 strikeouts in 73 at-bats, Anthony has reasserted himself with more reps.
Even with a few stretches spent on the shelf due to injury, Anthony is batting .349 so far in June with four home runs and nine RBI over 43 at-bats. Entering Saturday, Anthony is slashing .267/.384/.860 with seven home runs and 21 RBI.
Anthony’s 34 walks this season rank fourth in the Eastern League, while his .384 on-base percentage is sixth overall.
“I think just the more you play and the more you’re able to be out there — the more pitchers you see, the more at-bats you get,” Anthony said. “So obviously it stinks when you go through some bruises and little patches where you miss a few games.
“But I think the biggest thing is availability and being able to play every day. And when you’re playing every day, you give yourself a chance to get more at-bats. And you just play the game more often and settle in a little bit more.”
While it’s to be expected for there to be some growing pains for any player adjusting to elevated competition in Double-A, Anthony is not fretting over any bumps in the road as he continues to try and refine his game.
SoxProspect.com’s scouting report on Anthony tabbed him with the “ceiling of a regular All-Star” due to his raw power, bat speed, plate discipline, and athleticism, while MLB.com’s report from January listed Anthony with the higher offensive upside when compared to Boston’s No. 1 prospect, Marcelo Mayer.
But even though Anthony isn’t batting over .300 like his Portland teammates in Mayer and Kyle Teel, Anthony believes that his patience at the plate will continue to lead to strong results.
“I don’t really think it’s anything on the field, I don’t think the baseball is too much different,” Anthony acknowledged. “It’s the same game, obviously. I think it’s just more off-the-field stuff, getting your body ready, and then giving 100% of whatever you have every single day.
I think as you start to reach close to July, and they call it dog days, like that’s when it can become a grind. But just knowing it’s a grind for everybody else, as well, not just myself. So just showing up every day and finding a way to give 100% of whatever I have that day.”
Anthony is well ahead of schedule in terms of development, especially if he manages to earn yet another call-up to Triple-A Worcester by the end of the summer.
But Anthony, much like the rest of Portland’s elite core of talent, is not trying to look too far ahead — even with his immense potential.
“I think just sticking with my approach and sticking to the plan that I have every day and using the resources we have is a huge part of it,” Anthony said. “But for me, it’s really regardless of the level I’m at — the approach doesn’t really change for me, it’s still continue to show up and get what I have on the guy and go in with a plan that night and hope to attack.”
Sign up for Red Sox updates⚾
Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during baseball season.