Red Sox fans have every reason to keep one eye on Roman Anthony’s health as the 2027 season approaches.
No one is questioning the talent. The frustration comes from the durability side of the equation, and that concern has only grown after what happened in 2026. Anthony dealt with a rare injury that was later identified as a partially torn carpometacarpal, or CMC, ligament - the area connecting his right ring finger to his wrist.
The weird part was how unclear everything was from the start. The injury was originally described as a wrist sprain.
Later, when the proper diagnosis finally came into focus, a hand doctor said they had never seen a torn CMC ligament in decades of practice. That left everyone asking the obvious questions: Was surgery an option?
No. Could the team put a clean timetable on his return?
Not really, and that timeline kept sliding as the season went on.
That uncertainty eventually fueled ugly talk around Anthony, including unfair whispers about whether he was simply too fragile. But the bigger issue for Boston is harder to ignore: the injury never truly went away in 2026.
Even after 4.5 months of rest, Anthony still wasn’t at 100 percent when he returned, and he has since said as much. He missed 101 games while rehabbing.
Then came the AL Wild Card Series, where Anthony had to take himself out. Imaging after that setback showed more damage, this time to muscles in the hand and wrist that were separate from the original ligament problem. In other words, the wear and tear of playing through the issue had created another injury on top of the first one.
As Chad Tracy said at the time, "Boston outfielder Roman Anthony has damage to muscles in his wrist that is different than the finger injury he previously suffered, Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. Boston is looking to replace him on the roster, and Jahmai Jones will take Anthony's spot atop the lineup tonight."
That’s why the offseason treatment plan doesn’t come with much certainty. Sean McAdam of MassLive raised the key question this week: if 4.5 months of inactivity didn’t get Anthony fully right in 2026, why should anyone be certain that a winter off will do the trick now?
With so few medical comparisons for this kind of injury, nobody can say with confidence how long recovery should take or how likely a flare-up might be once he’s back on the field. That’s the uneasy reality hanging over Anthony and the Red Sox heading into 2027.
Boston can hope for its first fully healthy season from him. Skepticism, though, is justified.
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