It’s rare that a minor league highlight makes its way into clubhouse conversations before batting practice. But when Roman Anthony sent a baseball 497 feet into orbit for Triple-A Worcester last week, the buzz wasn’t just local — it was league-wide.

Scouts took notice. Players took notice. And, maybe most importantly, the Boston Red Sox front office took notice.

A few days later, Anthony was on a different bus. Not to Allentown, where Worcester was headed — but straight to Fenway Park, where the No. 1 prospect in baseball suddenly had a locker waiting for him.

It felt like an inevitable jolt for a team stuck in neutral. A 21-year-old power bat with polish and poise might not fix everything — but man, it sure feels like the kind of move that could shake something loose.

Getting to Know Roman Anthony: The Kid Who Just Kept Earning It

We’ve seen prospects blaze through the minors faster — think Juan Soto or Michael Harris II — but what’s made Anthony stand out is how steady and polished he’s looked at every stop. He didn’t need to sprint through the system to stand out; he just kept checking boxes and forcing the front office to pay attention.

• Drafted: Out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a 2nd-round pick in 2022.

• Double-A by 2023: He was barely 20 when he was already facing pitchers five or six years older.

• Triple-A dominance in 2025: Through 58 games at Worcester, he slashed .288/.423/.491 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs.

But it’s not just the stat line — it’s how he’s doing it.

The power is legit. He’s averaging over 95 mph on his batted balls, with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 109.4. That 115.6 mph grand slam last week traveled 497 feet — longer than anything hit in the majors this season and one of the five longest recorded blasts in MLB since Statcast began. If you blinked, you missed it. If you heard it, you felt it.

Still, it’s not all brute strength either. Anthony brings a rare blend of patience and discipline. His chase rate in Worcester would’ve ranked among the best in the majors. That kind of maturity at the plate is what really separates him from the typical "toolsy prospect."

Now, with the big leagues calling and the Red Sox in need of a spark, it’s time to see how Roman Anthony handles the honors curriculum at Fenway Park. Alex Cora gave a firm stamp of approval before he even set foot on the field:

"The kid has done an amazing job getting ready for this moment. We're excited. It's a big day for the organization"

Debut Night: A Roller‑Coaster in 11 Innings

Monday, June 9 – Rays 10, Red Sox 8 (11 innings)

Fenway was buzzing before the first pitch even left the mound. When Roman Anthony jogged out to right field for his MLB debut, the crowd gave him the kind of ovation usually reserved for postseason heroes, not rookies with zero big league at-bats. And yet, in that moment, it felt earned. He tipped his cap and settled into a position he’s barely played — just four career starts in right field as a pro — taking his place beneath Pesky’s Pole and into the hearts of fans hungry for hope.

The night itself? A little bit of everything.

1. First at-bat: He popped up to third base. Not ideal, but not nerves-shattering either.

2. Second time up: He absolutely smoked a ball — 111.2 mph off the bat — that drilled pitcher Ian Seymour before deflecting to short for an out. Wrong result, but man, the contact was loud.

3. Seventh inning: He worked a mature five-pitch walk. That’s the kind of plate appearance you don’t expect from a guy facing MLB arms for the first time.

4. Ninth inning: With a runner on third and the Sox trailing, Anthony chopped a ground ball to first. It wasn’t flashy, but it tied the game and gave him his first career RBI.

Of course, the debut wasn’t spotless. Defensively, things got a little rough in the fifth inning. A routine single skipped under his glove and rolled to the wall, turning a harmless base hit into a two-base error and an unearned run for Tampa. He didn’t duck it either. “It just can’t happen,” he said after the game. “Just got to learn from it and be better.”

Boston eventually lost 10–8 in 11 innings, but the story of the night wasn’t the final score. It was a 21-year-old stepping into a historic ballpark, absorbing the pressure, and still managing to look like he belonged. It wasn’t perfect, but it was real. And it gave fans — and everyone in the clubhouse — a glimpse at what could be coming.

Game 2: First Knock, First Win

Tuesday, June 10 – Red Sox 3, Rays 1

If Monday gave Red Sox fans a taste of what Roman Anthony could bring, Tuesday gave them their first real bite — and it was satisfying.

With his family finally in the stands after missing his debut due to the short notice, Anthony wasted no time. In the very first inning, with runners on and a chance to make a mark, he delivered. He turned on a pitch and ripped a two-run double down the left-field line, driving in his first two big-league runs and putting Boston on the board early. It wasn’t just the hit — it was how composed and confident he looked doing it. No nerves, no hesitation, just a smooth lefty swing doing damage.

In the field, he bounced back nicely from the miscue the night before. He tracked down a tough fly ball in right-center with a sliding catch that got a nice ovation from the Fenway crowd. It was the kind of solid, all-around night that rookies hope for early on.

There was also a little moment that hit close to home. Anthony had switched jersey numbers — he wore No. 48 in his debut but came out on Tuesday wearing No. 19, the same number he wore in Triple-A and a quiet nod to one of his favorite hitters, Joey Votto. It’s a small detail, but it shows how grounded he is and how much thought he puts into every step of the journey.

To put his start in perspective, at 21 years and 28 days, he became the youngest player in Red Sox history to record at least three RBIs through his first two games — edging out none other than Jim Rice.

Boston ended up winning the game 3–1, snapping a mini-skid and giving fans something to cheer about again. It was just one win. But for a team trying to find its footing, having your top prospect deliver like that, with your season still very much hanging in the balance, it felt like a whole lot more.

The Season That Was Supposed to Be

Back in March, there was genuine optimism swirling around the Red Sox. This wasn’t just blind hope — plenty of national outlets saw something brewing. NBC Sports Boston labeled them a "legit threat" to unseat the Yankees. Yahoo Sports was even bolder, picking Boston to win the division outright.

That excitement didn’t come out of nowhere. Boston had made a few big moves, brought in a deeper rotation, and looked like a team ready to turn the page. But things unraveled quicker than anyone expected.

Walker Buehler, brought in to be a top-of-the-rotation stabilizer, has struggled mightily — his ERA soared above 5.00 before June. Garrett Crochet flashed ace potential early, but some forearm tightness cost him two starts and raised red flags. The bullpen is an absolute mess; they’ve blown more leads than anyone in baseball with a league-high 17 failed holds. And the defense, which was supposed to be solid, has cratered — Boston ranks last in Outs Above Average, and even recently sure-handed Rafael Devers has already committed nine errors.

All that’s added up to a frustrating start for a team that genuinely believed it had the horses to compete. The good news is that the division, outside of the Yankees, has been up-and-down. Nobody’s running away with the Wild Card spots either, so a turnaround isn’t out of the question.

That’s part of what makes Anthony’s arrival feel so important. He’s not coming into a hopeless situation — he’s joining a team that still has a chance to get things right. And maybe, just maybe, he’s the kind of presence that helps shift the energy in the room.

MLB Network analyst and former MVP Jimmy Rollins put it best:

“It is a lot of pressure to put on a young man. He has some veterans up there that have been around... To put that pressure on him, I don't think would be fair. That said, he's expected to come up and be a sparkplug, to be a difference maker, and sometimes, when you bring a young guy up and he goes off, the veteran players, they become inspired.”

And he’s right. Anthony’s not being asked to carry this thing — he’s just being asked to bring something fresh to a clubhouse that’s felt stale for far too many nights. If the veterans respond the way the front office hopes, his debut could be a turning point.

Roman Anthony Might Be Just What the Red Sox Needed

The Red Sox still have holes to patch and plenty of questions to answer. But it’s okay to admit that something about this feels different. Not in a savior way — just in a "we finally have something fresh to root for" kind of way. He’s young, he’s talented, and he’s already shown that the moment isn’t too big for him. That alone is a reason to tune in.

What happens next will depend less on Anthony and more on the guys around him. The veterans still need to play like veterans. The rotation has to give the bullpen a breather. The defense simply can’t be what it’s been. But with 95 games left, there’s still time to make things interesting, and now there’s one more reason for fans to believe that’s possible.