When Roman Anthony stepped out of the tunnel and onto the field at Fenway Park for the first time on Monday, he was greeted with the kind of scene that typically signifies the arrival of a rock star, not a young ballplayer making his big league debut.
TV cameras. Cell phones. Seemingly every eye in the stadium, focused squarely on him.
As baseball’s top prospect and one of the most hyped players to ever debut for the Red Sox, Anthony is no stranger to being at the center of attention.
A case could be made he became one of the organization’s most well known players long before he sniffed a big league field. But being the most famous player in Triple-A is one thing, it’s another thing entirely to find yourself thrust into one of the biggest baseball markets in the world on a couple hours notice, one that had been breathlessly counting down the days to your inevitable promotion.
And yet Anthony didn’t blink, and few around the organization were surprised.
“He’s 21 years old but carries himself like he’s 35 years old,” said assistant general manager Paul Toboni, who led the draft that brought in Anthony in 2022. “Not being bothered by the noise and all the hype and all that, I don’t think it comes as a shock to really anyone in the organization that knows him well.”
Anthony’s arrival may one day be remembered as a pivotal moment in Red Sox history, but in the short term Anthony’s first week as a big leaguer was memorable yet, on some level, understated. The rookie kept his cool and contributed to one of the club’s most successful stretches of the season, including a big series win against Tampa Bay and a thrilling extra-innings win over the Yankees on Friday. Yet he did so without soaking in all the adulation, effectively trying to keep things as mundane as possible.
In the process he’s made a strong impression inside the clubhouse, drawing particular praise from one of his most accomplished teammates.
“I think he’s going to be one of the best hitters in all of baseball,” said Alex Bregman, a two-time World Series champion, before Friday’s game. “You can’t judge someone from three games but he’s already hit a ball 111 mph in the big leagues, I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my career.
“I think the game is slow for him, the at bats are super solid and he’s just going to continue to get more comfortable,” Bregman continued. “He’s going to be a real force in this league.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Anthony’s first week in the majors has been solid, echoing Toboni’s sentiments about how the 21-year-old “doesn’t get caught up in the whole thing” and “understands what he’s here for.” He also complimented Anthony’s plate discipline, adding that his commitment to defense has also caught his eye.
“He’s put some good at bats, the patience is real,” Cora said. “The swing is very simple and he’s working his butt off defensively, that’s something I’ve noticed.”
Amid one of the craziest weeks of his life, how has Anthony handled everything? Speaking to the Herald on Friday, Anthony called his debut “amazing” and “a dream come true,” but that despite all of the attention he’s gotten, he’s remained grounded by the knowledge that his actual job hasn’t changed much at all.
“It’s still the same game,” Anthony told the Herald on Friday. “Still got to lock in and try to win a ballgame, and the goals remain the same.”
Ballplayers are creatures of habit, and one of the first orders of business for Anthony upon his promotion was settling into a routine as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible on Monday.
Having received the call to the big leagues right before boarding the Triple-A bus to Lehigh Valley, Anthony wasn’t even able to retrieve most of his usual equipment when he drove over to Fenway Park. He arrived at the ballpark less than two hours before first pitch, and his debut was predictably uneven. Anthony drew a walk and drove in a run to help force extra innings, but also finished 0 for 4 with an error in the eventual 10-8 loss to Tampa Bay.
Things went much better on Tuesday. By then his family had arrived in town, and he wasted no time giving those closest to him a special memory when he ripped what proved to be the game-winning two-run double in the bottom of the first inning for his first career hit. The Red Sox won the following night on Wednesday too, clinching the series and giving Anthony his first taste of big league success.
“Obviously the goal every time we go out there, to help this team win and I thought the first three games were pretty fun,” said Anthony, who has chosen MGMT’s “Electric Feel” as his big league walk-up song. “Great to get two wins there and just great to get acclimated with the guys.”
Thursday’s off-day finally offered Anthony a chance to catch his breath, unpack his stuff and hang out with his family, who will be in town through the end of the weekend. He’s also in the process of getting a new place with Marcelo Mayer, a fellow top prospect and his longtime roommate in the minors.
“He’s been my roommate forever so it’s something we’ve talked about for a while,” Anthony said. “It’s going to be a fun time.”
When Anthony returned to the Red Sox clubhouse on Friday, he discovered that his temporary locker in the middle of the room had been reassigned. Instead he had a much nicer space in the far corner, right between Jarren Duran and Bregman.
“It’s awesome, two great guys to be in the middle of,” Anthony said. “Looking forward to talking baseball with them and learning a lot from them.”
Anthony’s numbers through his first four games don’t necessarily jump off the page. He was 1 for 15 (.067) with a double, three RBI, two walks and four strikeouts, albeit with a couple of hard hit balls that went for outs. Still, Cora has shown faith in the youngster by batting him fifth in every game he’s started since his promotion. He also kept him in the lineup on Friday despite the Yankees starting a lefty, instead sitting Duran for Rob Refsnyder.
Like with Mayer and Kristian Campbell after Opening Day, the initial excitement surrounding Anthony’s promotion will soon wane and he’ll instead be judged by how he performs in the big leagues. Campbell has already gone through the whole rookie experience, winning Rookie of the Month in April before falling into a deep slump in May. Mayer has experienced some ups and downs as well, and there’s no doubt Anthony will face adversity early on as well.
But after years of waiting, the long-promised “future” the Red Sox have been building towards is finally here.
“They’re here to win,” Cora said. “They’ll do whatever we ask them to do to help us win games and excited about the three of them.”
“I think the future is extremely bright here,” Bregman said.
‘Balanced’ Story turning things around
Two weeks ago Trevor Story’s struggles were reaching a point where his future with the team seemed legitimately in question. He’d fallen in the batting order below utility player Nick Sogard, and even his usually excellent defense had seemingly taken a step back.
Could he be designated for assignment? Or dumped in a trade similar to Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett back in the day? Both seemed like realistic possibilities.
What a difference a couple of weeks makes.
Since the start of June, Story’s bat has come to life and he’s finally playing like the All-Star the Red Sox have expected him to be all along. Over the first 11 games of June he batted .302 with four extra-base hits and an .836 OPS, punctuating the stretch with a breathtaking home run he hit in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Tampa Bay, a 398-foot moonshot that cleared the Green Monster and prompted an uncharacteristically enthusiastic bat flip.
It reminded Cora of Story’s prime years, when moments like that were a regular occurrence.
“If you go back to his years in Colorado, there were a lot of bat flips,” Cora said, recounting one specific instance against the Philadelphia Phillies. “He went down to his knee like (Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre) and he hit it out and flipped the bat, and I always bring that up. He’s a confident kid right now, he’s swinging the bat right well and that was good to see.”
It’s a striking change from earlier in the spring, when Story ranked among the least productive hitters on the team, and arguably all of MLB. Over a 33-game stretch from April 22 through the end of May, the shortstop batted .132 with three extra-base hits and 47 strikeouts, watching his batting average sink from .337 all the way to .216.
During that period Story acknowledged he may have started thinking too much at the plate, about everything from his mechanics to the game plan to what the opposing pitcher was going to do. Things started turning around, he said, once he started to clear his mind and just play ball.
“Just keeping it simple. That’s truly the answer,” Story said on Wednesday. “Just being an athlete, being on time and less is more for me a lot of times.”
Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse said Story is much more balanced now than he was earlier in the season, which has allowed him to put the ball into play all over the field with more consistency. Previously Story was either pulling the ball or whiffing all together, and that change has allowed him to produce much better results.
“Now that he’s getting back to that level of balance where he can drive the ball to right, he can get his hands inside, pull the ball to left, it makes him a really dynamic threat,” Fatse said.
If that version of Story sticks around, it could be a game changer for the Red Sox.
Danvers native off to great start
Earlier this season the Red Sox faced Chicago White Sox right-hander and Danvers native Shane Smith twice in one week, and the former Governor’s Academy star more than held his own. Going head-to-head against Garrett Crochet, Smith held the Red Sox to two runs over six innings in the first meeting before allowing three runs in 4.2 innings the following weekend.
Smith has continued pitching well.
The 25-year-old rookie has yet to allow more than three runs in any of his first 13 career starts, posting a 2.37 ERA over 68.1 innings. The former Rule 5 pick has established himself as a bona fide front-of-the-rotation arm and is arguably the top candidate to represent the White Sox at this summer’s All-Star Game.
MLB notes: Bay State pitchers cherish first trip to Fenway as big leaguers
He’s not the only local making noise in the majors.
Fellow Massachusetts natives Sean Burke (Sutton, St. John’s of Shrewsbury) and Mike Vasil (Wellesley, BC High) have held their own for the White Sox as well. Burke was Chicago’s Opening Day starter and has a 4.71 ERA through 14 outings, and Vasil has posted a 2.18 ERA in 41.1 innings primarily out of the bullpen. … Ian Seymour, another St. John’s of Shrewsbury alum, made his MLB debut this past week at Fenway Park, earning the win in Tampa Bay’s 10-8 win over the Red Sox on Monday. … Cohasset’s Ben Rice, a former Noble and Greenough standout, is back in town this weekend as a member of the Yankees. He has 12 home runs this season and batted second for New York on Friday ahead of Aaron Judge. … Former Northeastern University star Cam Schlittler, a Walpole resident, has been promoted by the Yankees to Triple-A.