Roman Anthony’s status has become the biggest storyline hanging over the Red Sox after a Game 1 loss in the Wild Card Series, and it all traces back to that so-called “meaningless” finale at Tampa Bay.
What looked like a no-stakes finish against the Cubs on Sunday no longer had anything riding on it once the Padres beat Chicago on Saturday night and locked in the Cubs’ Wild Card seeding. That left plenty of Red Sox fans fuming about the travel, the Yankees’ rainout, and the odd timing of it all. But the sharper question is harder to dodge: why was any starter out there in Game 162, especially a key player like Anthony, who missed most of the season with injury?
The answer matters now because Anthony’s right hand became an issue in the Bronx. He batted in Tampa, grimaced, took the field before Game 1 with a wrap on his hand, and then looked off against Cam Schlittler before leaving mid-game after a check swing on his second strikeout. At that point, the blame doesn’t sit anywhere else.
“Roman is out and it looks like the issue may have started in that meaningless Game 162 at the Trop. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/Pf0Q8msF4U”
Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said Anthony’s right hand was “uncomfortable.” Later, the update got a little more specific: the hand “flared” on a check swing, and it’s the same hand that kept Anthony out for most of the year.
“Roman Anthony update: His right hand was “uncomfortable” and “flared” on a check swing, Chad Tracy said.
That’s the same hand that sidelined him most of the season.”
The timing could hardly be worse for Boston. The Sox were just starting to make Schlittler work a little harder, and there was a brief sense they might shift the momentum before the sixth ended. Instead, Anthony became Andruw Monasterio, and the Red Sox were left staring at a 9-0 shutout after Schlittler rolled through the game with a dominant outing and a late drizzling of runs behind him.
There’s also a clear parallel to last year’s Wild Card Series, when Boston arrived in the Bronx without Anthony and watched its offense stall after Garrett Crochet’s Game 1 masterpiece. This time, the setup was supposed to be different: Aaron Judge was out of the Yankees’ lineup, while Anthony and Crochet were back and expected to help after lost seasons for both.
Now Anthony’s availability is the dominant question heading into Wednesday, when the Yankees have a chance to close things out. And for Tracy, whose first year has been a strong one, the choice to send Anthony and the rest of the group out there in a game that no longer meant anything is going to hang over this series.
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