The Red Sox got a dose of encouraging news on August 11, and Roman Anthony was at the center of it.
Anthony has started hitting off a high-velocity Trajekt machine, according to multiple sources including Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The machine is designed to mimic the movement of breaking balls, so it gives a rehabbing hitter the closest possible look at game action without actually stepping into a game.
Interim manager Chad Tracy said Anthony is "getting closer" to a rehab assignment, though he stopped short of laying out when that move might happen. Even without a firm date, that’s a meaningful step for a player who has been out for a long stretch.
Anthony has been sidelined since May 5 after injuring his hand while swinging on May 4. The early part of the recovery was bumpy, with misdiagnoses and an attempt to return too soon by swinging a bat before he was ready, which only slowed things down further. Now, Boston is finally seeing the kind of progress it had been waiting for.
The expectation is that Anthony would need a fairly long rehab stint once it starts, possibly close to the 20-game maximum. He has been out of game action for more than three months, so it will take time before he’s fully comfortable facing live pitching again.
Before the injury, Anthony hadn’t really found his groove. Over 30 games, the 22-year-old hit .229/.354/.321. But in the week before the hand issue flared up, he started to show more life, putting up a .269/.345/.346 line over his last seven games.
The timing of this update matters too. Boston’s historic surge through the last week of July and into August has pushed the club squarely into the postseason mix, and Anthony’s return would give that hot lineup another jolt. A healthy Anthony could be an even bigger boost than the one the Red Sox have already gotten during their run.
It could also change the way Boston pieces together the outfield. Jarren Duran has had a rough season at the plate, hitting .201/.258/.356 with 134 strikeouts in 111 games, and Anthony’s return would give the Red Sox a chance to reduce some of those reps. That would lengthen the lineup in a real way.
With about seven weeks left in the regular season, the Red Sox have already shown they can hang in the American League without Anthony. But bringing him back now could be a difference-maker when the competition gets tougher in October. Anthony handled the moment after his call-up last season, and this year’s team could use that same spark at just the right time.
In Other News...
Former Red Sox Fan Favorite Is Walking Away From Baseball
Rob Refsnyders name still carries a little extra weight in Boston, where his career got a second life and he became one of those players fans seemed to appreciate for how he fit into the room as much as what he did on the field. After bouncing through several organizations, he found real footing with the Red Sox during a revival that helped turn him from a journeyman into a familiar and well-liked presence for the club.
Now, according to reports, the former outfielder has stepped away from professional baseball altogether. Refsnyders path included parts of 11 major league seasons and a late-career stop with the Mariners, and he leaves behind a modest but respectable big league rsum with a .246 average, 37 home runs and 165 RBIs. For Red Sox fans, though, he will likely be remembered less for the final numbers than for the run that made him feel like one of their own. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Just Pushed Out A Productive Outfielder For A Bigger Reason
Roster churn at the Double-A level can look routine from the outside, but it often says more about an organizations direction than any box score does. The Red Sox parted ways with outfielder Matt Fraizer, a former Pirates third-round pick who had joined the system on a minor-league deal last winter and had spent his time with Portland, where he was one of the more established outfield options on hand.
Fraizers exit appears to fit the kind of roster management that happens when a club wants to open space for younger talent moving up behind him. In Bostons case, the move helps clear room for other outfielders and comes as Henry Godbout gets a promotion within the organization, a reminder that even productive minor-league pieces can become expendable when the pipeline starts to move. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Prospects Are Giving Boston A Depth Boost Fans Will Notice
Bostons farm system has been doing more than just filling box scores lately. Across different levels, several Red Sox prospects have started to show the kind of steady production that can make a rebuilding pipeline feel a little more real, with Mikey Romero, Franklin Arias, Allan Castro and Gage Ziehl among the names drawing attention for recent game-to-game impact. The updates have come from all over the system, which is part of what makes the stretch notable for the organization: it is not just one hot hand, but a collection of players giving the club reason to keep watching closely.
There was also a familiar big-league name in Worcester for a rehab assignment debut, though it sits outside the actual prospect conversation. Even so, the broader minor league picture is the one Boston has to like right now, because depth only matters if it is producing in more than one place at once. For a team that always has one eye on the next wave, these are the kinds of performances that can change the tone of a farm system, even before any of them force a bigger conversation. [Read more 🡒]