Roman Anthony’s recent offensive wave surely gave the impression that he was ready to make the Red Sox call him to majors. But a minor injury that limited Anthony defensively showed the club.
Anthony, who had two circuits (including a large chelem) and had five points produced in match 1 from Worcester to Rochester in Rochester on Thursday afternoon, did not play the field for Woosox during a full week. Instead, it was exclusively in programming in the designated striker due to a minor injury.
Anthony faced minor pain on the right shoulder, a team source announced on Thursday, which prevents the Red Sox from playing in the outdoor field in matches last week. Anthony continues to play Catch and should return to the field “in the near future”. The problem has no impact on Anthony’s ability to strike, so the Red Sox decided not to place it on the injured list, but decided to be cautious so that Anthony can play both sides of the ball without limitation when it is entirely healthy.
Anthony, who rides a sequence of six games and nine shots (including two doubles and two circuits) in his last four games, has seen his counting statistics catch up with his underlying measures in recent days. Now he strikes .300 (15 for 50) with four circuits, 12 doubles, 13 balls on bullets, a basic percentage of .444 and an OPS of 1.064 in 14 games so far this season while barging balls at an exceptionally high pace.
However, the Red Sox will want Anthony entirely in good health – and back in the swing of things in the outside field – before promoting it to the majors. Before the injury, Anthony recorded 40 sleeves in the left field, 25 ⅓ in the central field and 18 in the right field. We expect him to get most of his representatives in the left field in the majors with Jarren Duran probably moving to the full-time center, Wilyer Abreu remaining in the right field and Ceddanne Rafaela finally assumed a super-utility role that would include defensive representatives late in the games and begins against certain left-handers. Anthony’s defense is lagging behind the advantage of the stellar offensive, so the Red Sox want to make sure that he continues to develop with the glove before giving him his first blow in the majors. The time of service, as always, is a consideration and the Red Sox surely weigh the short -term gain of the promotion of Anthony now against the potential of hitting him a free agency a year earlier.
“Since the development, (doing it) a little more comfortable playing in the outside field,” said Director of Baseball Craig Breslow last week. “And then have it exposed to the left-left, by ensuring that he can manage this. He did significant damage compared to the right (launchers given) and we have confidence in this long term, it will not be a problem, but in the short term, giving him a chance to be exposed to the left-handed pitch is the thing that is in the short term.”
With Rafael Devers as a full -time DH, the Red Sox obviously do not call Anthony to obtain representatives there. They will want Anthony to obtain everyday representatives and not be a peloton player when he arrives. A passage to the first base, some of which have speculated without foundation, is not on the table.
“There are some players, and we hope and optimistic that we have a handful, who create their own chronology,” said Breslow. “But then, most of the guys arriving in the big leagues do it because an opportunity arises on the club of the big league. I think it will probably be a balance of these two things.”
Appearing Thursday in The Greg Hill of Weei, Breslow reiterated that the Red Soxs always feel as development possibilities for Anthony in Triple-A.
“I don’t think we want to lose anything. I think what we want to make sure that when Roman arrives in the big leagues, he is able to intervene and succeed and that there is a clear opportunity for him to obtain the track he will need at the age of 20,” said Breslow. “I think there are still development opportunities that he is tackling Worcester at the moment. But we are really delighted with what Roman has done so far and what we think he is able to bring.”
