FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 As Roman Anthony waited for final approval to join Team USA for next month\u2019s World Baseball Classic, he had to manage expectations.<\/p>\n
Not his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to jump the gun, given the insurance stuff,\u201d Anthony told the Herald. \u201cSo I let my parents know, like \u2018Hey, there\u2019s a chance this doesn\u2019t work out. So let\u2019s not get too excited.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
No surprise that\u2019s how Anthony, who many teammates consider the most even-keeled, level-headed, 21-year-old they\u2019ve ever met, reacted. In such \u201cdream come true\u201d moments, and there have been several over the last year, Boston\u2019s burgeoning superstar consistently acts with intention and maturity beyond his years.<\/p>\n
The last year tested Anthony in a multitude of ways. The general consensus is he passed with flying colors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a great year,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s not really one of those things that you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony reported to his first big-league camp last winter as the No. 1 prospect, not only in the Red Sox organization, but in all of baseball. Still too young to buy a beer, he looked totally at home among the proven veterans as he competed for a spot on the Opening Day roster. (He turned 21 last May 13.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned a lot, learned a lot about myself, learned a lot last camp,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit different coming into this camp. A lot of uncertainty last camp. \u2026 Grinding out every day in spring and then for me, not necessarily performing as good as I wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony didn\u2019t make the team out of camp, but he didn\u2019t have to wait long to get the call. He made his major league debut on June 9, and signed an escalator-laden eight-year, $130 million extension less than two months later. Not even a month after the deal, he suffered a season-ending oblique strain. He was forced to watch from the sidelines as the Red Sox completed their first winning season and playoff berth since 2021, though they couldn\u2019t have gotten there without him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t have asked for a more learning experience of a year,\u201d Anthony said, \u201cbut a great year at the same time. There were so many different emotions, but I just learned from all of them, and really learned how to take care of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking care of oneself is different in the majors, Anthony quickly found out. Minor league teams play six-game series. A position player may face an opposing pitcher multiple times, which makes the advance work completely different. Struggling in his first big-league games, Anthony felt like a failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe preparation side of things,\u201d Anthony explained. \u201cI did a really good job at understanding that I sucked at it in the beginning, and learning very fast that it\u2019s different than the minor leagues and now I need to be a whole lot better at preparing and understanding matchups, who I might face, types of runners when I\u2019m on defense, tendencies on guys, tendencies on things like third-base coaches and opposing teams who have a tendency of sending guys or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust things like that, that I literally never thought of in the minor leagues, that I had to learn fast in the big leagues,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf I could go back, I wish I would be better at it in the minors, but I think it\u2019s a little bit more broad. \u2026 As ready as I felt, it was one of those things, I just had to experience it. I had to fail doing it in the big leagues in order for me to learn it and understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony hit .114 with a .518 OPS in his first 15 games, then .329 with a .931 OPS in the remaining 56. With help from Alex Bregman and Trevor Story, Anthony made a \u201cbig adjustment\u201d after the Phillies series, shortening his swing to \u201ctap into that home run power and get the ball in the air.\u201d He felt he was just getting started when he suffered his oblique injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cToward the end of the year I felt like I was just unlocking what I had, that the best was yet to come,\u201d Anthony said, \u201cand I still believe that, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m so excited for this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
So it was a different Anthony who reported to spring training this year, after learning how to prepare and adjust. And yet, it was the same Anthony. The same level-headed, well-spoken, family-oriented young man the Red Sox have seen navigate pressure like a pro since he was a teenager.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a different roster, too, and the spotlight on Anthony is brighter than ever. Without Bregman and Rafael Devers, the Red Sox are looking to Anthony to be an offensive leader.<\/p>\n
He wants to do that and more. He wants to do it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing up, I don\u2019t want to say I\u2019m expected to hit, but my profile in the minor leagues, right, everyone expects me to hit,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cBut for me, really taking pride in the defensive stuff everyday, too. I really, obviously, want to be the best hitter I can be, but at the same time I really want to take pride in my defense, and my reads, and help the team out in more ways than just hitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony knows the pressure is on him more than ever. But he also understands why.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a failing game,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to help the team win a World Series, and anything short of that is a failure. And we understand that when we don\u2019t win, we\u2019re expected to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re just lucky enough to be in a franchise that we are, and with the way that these fans are, how passionate they are, and having the best fan base in the world. And understanding that they\u2019ll let you hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony found that out in his debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned quick it\u2019s all about accountability,\u201d he said. \u201cComing up in my first game and making a crucial error to lose against the Rays, you learn fast. \u2026 These fans, they expect a lot out of me in a way that, they have respect for me and they really enjoy watching me play, and they expect nothing but the best every single day. For me, I wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n
What fans don\u2019t realize is that the outfielder is harder on himself than anyone else, even in this market, ever could be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hold myself to such a high standard that when I don\u2019t perform or when things don\u2019t go the right way, I\u2019m already on myself enough that any outside noise doesn\u2019t really mean much,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s the biggest thing, is I expect so much out of myself that anything really short of perfection, I\u2019m continuing to try and get there. So I think that helps a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I don\u2019t really pay too much attention to all the outside noise. I don\u2019t understand how anyone could, and play this game, right? It can be very easy to get trapped in it, so for me I just block all that out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 As Roman Anthony waited for final approval to join Team USA for next month\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,16088,31839,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-485733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-red-sox","12":"tag-roman-anthony","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}