Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony rounding the bases during a game last season. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
In wake of the Jeff Passan notification that Alex Bregman is now a Chicago Cub, the criticism of the Boston Red Sox is fully warranted. More and more crumbs are leaving a trail behind as to how the Red Sox even got to this point and needless to say, it leads to nothing desirable. With Bregman onto greener pastures, this team will need a leader to emerge. Until the team makes a move and adds another premiere bat, the front office is putting all their eggs in the basket of Roman Anthony.
One of the goals that Breslow set out to do was to make sure that there wasn’t a lot of pressure put on the younger players when they got called up. Oh boy how fast that has changed. At the time of Anthony’s call up to the big leagues, Rafael Devers and Bregman were on the team. Now, neither of them are on the team and the lineup that is currently constructed is significantly weaker than what it was on Opening Day in Texas.
Red Sox took a one-year gamble on Alex Bregman — was it worth it?
It seems extremely unfair to do by the front office and having a 21 year old (turns 22 in May) have to put the team on his back and perform at an MVP level for this team to have a chance. However, that is the current reality we live in. Is it something he can do? Absolutely.
Anthony is on the rise and has superstar pedigree written all over him. As you saw his progression in the minor league systems in 2025, you were salivating at him making his debut and doing special things for the Red Sox. His time came and for the small sample size that it was, the impacts were noteworthy.
Roman Anthony’s Baseball Savant page.
It took time to settle in, but once he found his rhythm and adjusted the sky was the limit for the Roman Empire. Everything under the hood was magnificent, as he has elite bat speed, which led to significant high exit velocities and a ridiculous hard hit rate. He always finds that sweet spot and his swing is among the prettiest in the sport. Anthony has a great eye for the ball in the batters box and has a great approach. The results also spoke for themselves.
Anthony finished his season slashing .292/.396/.463 with an .859 OPS and 140 wRC+. From his time getting called up (June 9), Anthony led the team in wRC+, and his slash line led all qualified hitters in the lineup. Impressive for such a short stint. Furthermore, his 2.7 fWAR was the fifth best on the Red Sox this season and for a player that played 71 games that is an impressive feat. Anthony can play either corner of the outfield and play it well. He is the one thing fans can cling to and enjoy in 2026.
As it stands, there are only three players projected to have an fWAR above 2.0 and Anthony is tied with Ceddanne Rafaela for first with 2.5. Rafaela is largely due to his elite defense in the outfield, but from an offensive standpoint is inconsistent at best. Anthony is projected to have a slash line of .261/.351/.430 with a .781 OPS and 115 wRC+. That seems light and something he can outperform. He’s also projected to hit 18 home runs, something he can outperform.
The Red Sox lineup is filled with potential and question marks. Can Trevor Story stay healthy? What does a year where Wilyer Abreu is hitting lefties like? We saw what a lineup without Anthony looked like in September and the results were subpar. This also isn’t ruling out the possibility that they trade an outfielder.
The reality is this, the Red Sox don’t currently have the firepower that they had last season offensively. It is an offense that strikes out a lot, lacks power, and the contact approach isn’t exactly present. They’ll be able to pitch their way to wins in 2026 and in the hopes that the run support will be there. But it all starts with Anthony and if the Red Sox are to thrive offensively, he will need to perform at an MVP level.