WORCESTER – What does a “slump” look like for Roman Anthony this year?
He recently went through one with Triple-A Worcester — at least by his lofty standards. On April 25, he slammed a foul ball off his right foot that forced him to miss a couple of games. When he returned, Anthony endured a rut of 12 straight contests in which his offensive production was limited to singles and walks.
“It became an ongoing joke [with the team] when I didn’t have an extra-base hit for two weeks,” said Anthony. “But I was grinding, honestly.”
Anthony and Red Sox hitting instructors determined he’d become too rotational while trying to pull the ball in the air (something that would allow him to better counter opposing pitchers’ tendency to attack him inside), and he worked to maintain a cleaner line to re-establish his exceptional ability to demolish pitches to all fields. He made the correction, but it required work and time.
So, what did Anthony’s slump ultimately look like? He hit .283 with a .370 OBP and reached base at least once in 11 of the 12 contests.
In some ways, Anthony’s performance helped to define his floor as a player — a suggestion of a player with the plate discipline and acumen to offer consistent contributions even when he’s not at his best, and with the ability to emerge as a game-changer when he makes the adjustments to re-establish the best version of himself.
“When he’s struggling, he’s not really struggling. When you don’t see the barrels, he’s still getting on base. His batting average is still going up although his barrels may be going down. He can impact the game in so many different ways, and I think that’s what we want him to understand,” said WooSox hitting coach Doug Clark. “At the big league level, that’s what we’re looking for.”
That performance doesn’t mean Anthony will be slump-proof in the big leagues. At some point, he’ll encounter a period of significant struggle. But when he does, there are reasons to think he has survival skills to allow him to continue to contribute — and the acumen to find his way back from holes.
The ability to remain productive through slumps, and to stand out as the best player on the field on most days, explains the clamor for Anthony at the big league level — and points to why the conversations in and around the Red Sox about when to call up the game’s top prospect are gaining volume.
In recent days, Anthony — who turned 21 last week, and remains the youngest position player in Triple A — is once again offering glimpses of a player with game-changing talent.
In the late innings of a contest on Tuesday at Polar Park, a Durham Bulls pitcher tried to beat him with a fastball away in a 1-2 count. Anthony crushed the 96-mile-per-hour offering, driving it to the opposite field and well over the fence in left – a sign that his swing is once again where he wants it to be.
It’s hard to not think about just because of honestly how much it’s talked about
Roman Anthony, on the growing clamor over his imminent promotion from Triple A
An oppo blast from Roman Anthony 💪 pic.twitter.com/7gRsKbV1Wu
— Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) May 22, 2025
It’s not hard to watch a lefthanded hitter effortlessly drill mid- to upper-90s fastballs to all fields and imagine the potential impact both on the 2025 Red Sox — a team that’s struggled to handle velocity — and for years to come.
Anthony, too, admits to thinking about the question of when he might get called up, but expresses eagerness rather than anxiety or urgency on the subject of when he’ll make the eastbound trip on the Mass. Turnpike.
“It’s hard to not think about just because of honestly how much it’s talked about and how much of a trending topic it is in the media,” said Anthony. “We’re asked so much — so many of us — that question. But we really don’t know.
“And I think we’ve done a good job up to this point of just leaving it alone and not worrying about it and just wishing for the best for the team up there and hoping to get up there as fast as we can to help the team win. But for now, it’s just, we’re here. We’re trying to help this team win, and just trying to clean up on every little thing that we can before we can get up there.”
Anthony speaks and acts with a perspective that belies his youth. His desire to improve the details of his game — his swing, of course, but also situational hitting, his defensive work that has focused on left field this year, as well as his baserunning — in pregame work as well as through game repetitions. He finds joy in the work in Triple A rather than frustration in not yet being in the big leagues.
“We joke about [when a callup might happen], and we make light of it. And I think that’s the only way to kind of go about it. No reason to be salty,” said Anthony. “I get to play baseball here, regardless of what level I’m at. I get to play baseball every single day, so not really worry about it.
“I think when you start wondering too much and worrying too much about tomorrow or the next day or the next week, that’s when you sort of get yourself in trouble. So I think I’ve been off to a great start this year, just being where my feet are and enjoying it, enjoying this team, his staff, and enjoying getting better every single day.”
Still, as impressive as it is to see Anthony improve steadily, he also looks increasingly like a player who’s solved Triple A. Even as opposing pitchers treat him with the caution of a radioactive substance (his 20 percent walk rate is fourth highest in Triple A), Anthony leads the level in barrels (23) and has the second-highest hard hit rate in Triple A (60 percent).
“Pretty spectacular,” manager Chad Tracy said of Anthony.
He’s been the best player in Triple A dating to his promotion to that level last August. The performance has been sufficiently compelling to convince longtime baseball executive J.P. Ricciardi that Anthony has a chance to be “one of the best Red Sox ever.”
Anthony expressed gratitude for the compliment, but also took it with some reservation.
“All that praise is great. I appreciate all of it,” said Anthony. “[But] I haven’t done a thing at the big league level yet. It’s great to hear based off of what I’ve done so far, and kind of get a pat on the back for the work that I’ve put in and all that I’ve accomplished up to now.
“But to me, I haven’t really done anything. My goal is just to get up there and help the team and be great up there. So, we’ll circle back on that maybe a few years down the road and see where I am.”
Indeed, the measurement of what Anthony will look like at his peak — whether he will be a big league regular, or an All-Star, or a superstar — will take years.
But as to what he looks like at the start of his big league career?
“No dates circled,” said Tracy.
But the distance likely is now down to weeks — if that — rather than months. Anthony is ready.
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