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Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony looking to continue meteoric rise in rankings
"Again, the end goal is to get here and help this team win, and win a World Series in Boston.”
What a difference a year makes for Roman Anthony.
Entering his first full season of pro ball in 2023, the teenager was viewed as an intriguing addition to the Red Sox’ farm system after they picked him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
But the promise found in his advanced tools at the plate didn’t necessarily translate to league-wide recognition for the young outfielder.
With just 20 games of pro ball under his belt, Anthony opened spring training last February with few mentions across MLB Top 100 prospect rankings. The Athletic’s Keith Law tabbed him as the 12th prospect within Boston’s farm system.
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But in the span of just a few months, Anthony has gone from a raw, 19-year-old talent to arguably the fastest-rising prospect across all of baseball — advancing from low-A Salem all the way to Double-A Portland in his first pro season.
“Outfielder Roman Anthony isn’t just Boston’s breakout prospect this year, he might be the biggest breakout prospect in all of the minors,” Law wrote in September.
In Baseball America’s new Top 100 Prospects list for 2024, Anthony ranks No. 21 overall — second overall within Boston’s system after fellow Sea Dogs player Marcelo Mayer (No. 14).
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During their midseason rankings update last summer, Baseball Prospectus even tabbed Anthony as the No. 9 prospect in baseball, ahead of Mayer (No. 10).
Within just a few months, Anthony’s stock has risen to new heights — with a potential call-up to Fenway Park in the cards later this summer.
But Anthony — who won’t turn 20 until May — isn’t focusing on the microscope that he will inevitably be under this season as he tries to make another major step forward in his development.
“It’s always great to be rewarded. So I think it’s great to see all the hard work is slowly turning out,” Anthony said of the latest prospect rankings on Wednesday. “But for me, I don’t really pay too much attention to it. Just because, again, the end goal is to get here and help this team win, and win a World Series in Boston.”
Anthony’s surge up the prospect rankings was first sparked by Boston taking a sizable gamble on his development down in low-A ball.
The returns weren’t all that encouraging for Anthony with the Salem Red Sox, with the outfielder batting .228 with just one run and 18 RBI over 42 games.
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But Anthony’s exit velocity on batted balls and walk rate offered up hope that his numbers at the plate were going to rebound. Even if the results weren’t there, his approach at the plate was enough for Boston to promote him.
“He looks like he’s been in pro ball for multiple years versus a guy who’s getting his first full taste of full-season ball,” Red Sox Director of Player Development Brian Abraham told Alex Speier of The Boston Globe in June. “If you can have those foundational areas as a hitter and you hit the ball hard, you’d like to think it will eventually lead to more baseball-card-type success versus some of the back-end numbers that he’s shown a lot of success with.”
Much to the Red Sox’ delight, Anthony feasted against stronger pitching with the Greenville Drive. As the youngest player in High-A ball, Anthony batted .294 with a .412 on-base percentage, .981 OPS, 12 homers, 38 RBIs and 41 runs over 54 games.
He eventually earned a call-up to the Sea Dogs over the final weeks of the 2023 season — becoming the first teenage Red Sox prospect to make it to Double-A ball since Xander Bogaerts.
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In a 10-game sample size, Anthony batted .343 with four doubles, one home run, and eight RBI with the Sea Dogs. In his 44 plate appearances against Double-A pitching, Anthony worked eight walks and only struck out twice.
Over 106 total games last season, Anthony slashed .272/.403/.466/.869 with 14 home runs and 64 RBI.
Anthony is expected to open the 2024 season with Portland alongside the other two top prospects in Boston’s system in Mayer and catcher Kyle Teel.
“I’m super close with those guys,” Anthony said of Mayer and Teel. “But I don’t think it’s just those guys. I think it’s all the guys in the room here [at the Red Sox Rookie Development Program]. “We’ve developed a great, close bond with each other. We all get dinners together, whether it’s during the year, spring training, whoever it is. We’re always hanging out.
“And I think that’s why this group is so close and tight-knit. And it just makes it that much more special and that much easier to come to the field every day when you have guys like Kyle and guys like Marcelo, whoever it may be, all the guys in this room.”
Given his age and the strides he made in the span of his first season of pro ball, Anthony might boast the highest ceiling in Boston’s farm system.
SoxProspects.com’s scouting report on the outfielder tabbed him with the ceiling of a “regular All-Star” thanks to his advanced batting approach, raw power and potential plus-defensive game.
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But for now, Anthony is focused on staying the course. After all, adhering to such a mindset already has him playing a little over 100 miles away from Fenway Park.
“I think it remains the same, just like last year,” Anthony said of his approach in 2024. “Going into it, going into spring training, [I] didn’t really know what to expect. I just tried to learn as much as I could from all the guys around me with more experience than myself and kept that same mentality at each level.
“Just tried to lean on the guys who had more experience than myself that had been in situations that I was in for the first time. So I think it remains the same, regardless of the level. Just trying to learn as much as I can and get better each day.”
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