It wouldn’t have surprised anyone before the season if Roman Anthony was the first of the “big three” to make their Boston Red Sox debut. Now, he’s the last.
Anthony might have been just as deserving as Kristian Campbell to make the Opening Day roster, but Campbell had much more opportunity in front of him thanks to his position. Then, opportunity came knocking for Marcelo Mayer this weekend, thanks to Alex Bregman’s quad injury.
That left Anthony, who has a .970 OPS in Triple-A despite only turning 21 earlier this month, on an island. And he appeared to send a message to the Red Sox loud and clear with his 116-mile-per-hour home run on Saturday night: “I’m ready, too.”
Anthony has been ready for a while now, but the Red Sox’s outfield is so crowded that it’s been hard to figure out when he’ll fit into the picture, barring another injury. But it’s now time for the Red Sox to make a plan, pick an upcoming series, and work out the issue they knew was coming all along.
With that, here’s a best guess for the actual date Anthony makes his big-league debut: Monday, Jun. 9 at Fenway Park against the Tampa Bay Rays.
It’s very tempting to say Anthony should be up the previous Monday, when the Red Sox will face the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway. But after that series, they immediately go to Yankee Stadium, and that would also mean six of Anthony’s first 12 big-league games would be against the New York Yankees.
At this point, we also have to acknowledge that the Red Sox have probably held Anthony back this long, at least partially, because they fear losing a year of club control if he finishes top two in Rookie of the Year voting. We should now be beyond that point, but every week of opportunity could hypothetically make a difference.
Anthony is going to have to play at least 80 percent of the team’s games once he comes up to keep him in rhythm. That means a lot less at-bats for Ceddanne Rafaela, and maybe for Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran as well. It’s not going to be easy to manage.
But the Red Sox have to stop fretting after a while and take the plunge. And now that Bregman is hurt, they have to find a different way to win, and that just might be a full-on youth movement.
