Roman Anthony’s bat has gone quiet again, and for the Red Sox, that’s the part that has to sting.
The 22-year-old outfielder came back from a finger ligament injury looking like he might pick up right where he left off. He opened his return by going 10-for-22 over his first five games back.
But that burst didn’t last long. Over his last 11 games, Anthony is hitting just .149/.216/.213, and the plate discipline that once made him look so advanced has gone missing.
In that stretch, he’s posted a 7.8% walk rate and a 35.3% K-rate.
That kind of slump is what has sparked chatter about moving him lower in the lineup. It might help in the short term, but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue: Anthony has to find his timing fast.
What makes this stretch worth watching is that it fits an unfortunate pattern. When Anthony first reached the majors last season, he didn’t exactly explode out of the gate.
Through his first 15 big league games, he hit just .114/.291/.272. He eventually settled in and finished with a .292/.396/.463 line over 71 games, which was enough to leave the impression that Boston had a future All-Star on its hands.
But the slow start was there, and now it looks less like a blip and more like a recurring theme.
His 2026 season followed a similar script before the injury. Anthony opened the year in a rough slump, hitting .229/.354/.321 before the finger issue shut him down.
Even that line doesn’t fully capture how he was trending. He started to heat up in May, collecting five hits and two walks over 15 plate appearances before landing on the IL.
After missing nearly four months, the restart looked promising at first. Then the wheels came off.
The Red Sox can only hope this is just the profile of a player who starts slowly and then catches fire later. Baseball has plenty of examples of that kind of arc.
Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t hit until nearly June. Alex Bregman looked washed with the Chicago Cubs before turning it on in the second half.
Caleb Durbin has also moved past a rough start, September struggles aside.
Anthony himself doesn’t seem rattled by any of it.
“I’m right where I want to be… I came back with enough time to get a good number of plate appearances, and to fail like I am right now and to succeed like I did in the beginning, and then kind of meet in the middle… [The playoffs are] what you play for after such a long year… At the end of the day, those few weeks are the only thing that really matters,” Anthony said.
That’s the gamble now. If this is all part of the process, the Red Sox can live with the ugly stretches. If it isn’t, they’re going to need Anthony to straighten things out before October arrives.
In Other News...
Red Sox Suddenly Have A Yankees Dilemma For Game 1
As the Red Sox close in on the end of the 2026 regular season and a likely playoff berth, the focus has already shifted to a far more immediate question: who gets the ball in Game 1 of a probable Wild Card series against the Yankees? Boston has several paths it could take, with Sonny Gray and Ranger Surez among the veteran options in the mix, but the decision carries extra weight because of the opponent and the short format of the series.
Payton Tolle has emerged as a particularly intriguing candidate, with his recent performance helping build a case for the assignment and his past success against New York adding to the conversation. For the Red Sox, the choice is about more than just opening-night innings - it is about matching the right arm to the most unforgiving stage of the season, and that discussion is now starting to feel like one of the most important decisions left before October. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox May Have Let A Painful Miss Get Even Worse
Pete Alonsos 300th career homer on Sept. 15 against the Mets was the kind of milestone that quietly reopens old front-office regrets, especially for a Red Sox club still looking for the kind of middle-of-the-order force that can change a lineups shape. Now with the Orioles, Alonso keeps adding to a resume that has made him one of the sports most recognizable power bats, and his continued production only sharpens the sense of what Boston may have been in position to land.
There have also been reports from a podcast host suggesting the Red Sox were closer to signing Alonso in free agency than previously believed, though that remains unconfirmed and speculative. Even so, the idea lingers because Alonso is the sort of hitter who can alter the tone in a clubhouse and force opponents to pitch around everyone else, which is exactly the kind of presence Boston has spent the past several seasons trying to find. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Waste A Winnable Bello Start In Brutal Loss
Brayan Bello gave the Red Sox exactly the kind of start they needed, turning in eight strong innings and limiting Tampa Bay to one earned run while striking out 11. Boston still could not cash in on the edge Bello created, going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on base in a game that felt there for the taking.
Garrett Whitlock then absorbed the loss when he allowed the winning run in the ninth, sending the Rays to a 2-1 walk-off win and evening the series at one game apiece. For a club that had a quality outing from its starter and enough traffic on the bases to change the night, the frustration was as much about what slipped away as the final score itself. [Read more 🡒]