Red Sox’ Roman Anthony already reaches elite status at getting on-base
Anthony would have the third-best on-base percentage in baseball this season if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.
Roman Anthony has continued to put himself in rare air in his first few months in the majors.
After reaching base three times in the Red Sox’ 7-5 win over the Marlins on Saturday, the rookie outfielder’s on-base percentage surpassed the .400 mark. He now has a .405 on-base percentage for the season.
That mark would be the third-best in baseball if Anthony had enough plate appearances to qualify. Only Yankees superstar Aaron Judge (.445) and Dodgers catcher Will Smith (.413) have been better at getting on-base this season.
Unfortunately for Anthony, he almost certainly won’t get enough plate appearances to qualify for the league in stats like on-base percentage, slugging percentage, or OPS because of his June call-up. He’d have to average at least seven plate appearances per game for the rest of the season to reach that threshold.
That would also rule out Anthony from having one of the best on-base percentages for a rookie in recent memory. Judge’s .422 on-base percentage in 2017 was the best mark for a rookie since 1951. A year later, Juan Soto recorded a .406 on-base percentage as a rookie, but he didn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify for the all-time leaderboard.
While Anthony’s on-base percentage entering Sunday is less than the marks Judge and Soto put up as rookies, his on-base percentage after his first 10 games in the majors has been historically impressive. He has a .439 on-base percentage since June 21.
If Anthony had a .439 on-base percentage over the course of a full season, that mark would be the best for a rookie since 1939 and the sixth-best mark ever for a first-year player. It’d also be better than the on-base percentage that Ted Williams had in his rookie season (.436).
Speaking of Williams, Anthony put himself in another category with the Red Sox’ all-time great on Saturday. His third-inning double was his 17th of the season, making him the fourth player in Red Sox history to hit that many doubles in their first 55 games. Williams, Dom DiMaggio, and Jed Lowrie were the other three.
Anthony joined Williams in a few other historic marks earlier this week. After recording four walks and a home run in Tuesday’s win over the Astros, Anthony became the youngest player since Williams to do that in a game. He also became the first Red Sox player since Williams with at least 20 extra-base hits and 20 walks through their first 51 career games.
As Anthony’s damage as of late has come since his move to the leadoff spot on July 27, the rookie said he feels the onus to get on-base in any way possible to help the rest of the lineup.
“I think just understanding the guys I have behind me, it makes it a lot more comfortable on me,” Anthony told reporters on Saturday. “Just trying to be perfect with getting a pitch to hit and making sure it’s something I can do damage with and not leaving it up to the guys behind me and taking my walks.”
With Anthony’s careful eye and approach at the plate, Red Sox teammate Alex Bregman called the rookie “one of the best hitters in all of baseball” already after his ninth-inning walk helped them beat the Marlins on Friday.
“He’s very mature, and you see that when [he went] 0-for-4 in Houston with a few punch outs against a really good arm, and then you punch out twice against [Sandy] Alcántara, and then you don’t go out and chase hits your next two at-bats,” Bregman told reporters on Friday. “You make them throw the ball over the plate. And I mean, the plate discipline is crazy for his age, and also the maturity to not try and do too much in those situations is special. So, hitting behind him is awesome.”
And yes, Anthony is aware of the historical comparisons that he’s been drawing with his stellar play at the plate as of late.
“It’s great,” Anthony said of the historical comparisons. “I think anytime you’re in the conversation with any of those guys, you’re doing something right. It’s even better to just get on base, score runs and help the team win.”
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