Boston Red Sox

Roman Anthony calls himself out for ‘bad baseball’ after latest poor throw

"It’s awful to be a part of. I feel like it’s on me.”

Roman Anthony's throws have been a concerning trend for Boston so far in 2026. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)

By Conor Ryan

April 7, 2026 | 7:26 AM

2 minutes to read

Roman Anthony’s poise at the plate and hitting tools have him seemingly on the path toward stardom with the Red Sox.

But the 21-year-old outfielder’s play in the field has been a different story so far during the 2026 season.

For all of his upside, Anthony’s throwing arm (or lack thereof) has been a concerning trend through Boston’s disheartening 2-8 start to the new season.

Those woes revealed themselves again during Monday’s 8-6 loss to the Brewers at Fenway Park, with a poor throw from Anthony in left directly leading to two runs in the eighth inning.

“It was a terrible throw, again. We didn’t have a shot with that throw,” Anthony said postgame, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “It’s terrible. It’s bad baseball. It’s on me.”

Another rough Roman Anthony throw. pic.twitter.com/m7xd6sKGuV
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 7, 2026

With two out and two on for the Brewers in a 5-5 deadlock, Garrett Mitchell lined an offering from Garrett Whitlock into left field.

Anthony fielded it on a hop as Brice Turang was set to round third base.

A strong throw from Anthony could have cut down Turang at the plate, preserving the tie. Instead, Anthony’s attempt fizzled out in the infield — taking a bad hop from cut-off man Caleb Durbin and dribbling all the way to the backstop for catcher Carlos Narvaez to recover it.

Not only did Turang score to give Milwaukee the lead, Christian Yelich — who started the play at first — also made it all the way home on the poor throw to score what ended up being the game-winning run for Milwaukee.

“It’s, like, the fourth time I’ve done it now,” Anthony said of his poor throws. “Two runs score; it’s awful. It’s awful to be a part of. I feel like it’s on me.”

Even though Anthony’s potential is rooted in his production at the plate, he graded as a solid outfielder during his promising stint with Boston in 2025.

That hasn’t been the case so far in 2026, with Anthony’s weak throws making him an evident target for teams to take advantage of with aggressive base-running.

I wonder if the Boston Red Sox would consider DHing Roman Anthony.

Teams so far in 2026 have been able to run all day on him in left field.

Heres a compilation of his bad throws 😬 pic.twitter.com/0v2Gxp52yC
— js9innings (@js9inningsmedia) April 7, 2026

Anthony said that his recent struggles with throwing the ball aren’t due to any health-related concerns.

“I’ll take a look at the video, but obviously it wasn’t a good throw. It’s mechanics,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said postgame, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “Whit didn’t back up. That’s happened twice this week. We’re just watching the play. When the ball is hit, you’ve got to go somewhere. The only people that can watch are people in the stands. Obviously, they’re not too happy.”

While the Red Sox try to solve Anthony’s broken throwing mechanics, more reps at DH might be in the cards for Boston’s promising star as he tries to get out of this fielding rut.

“Just struggling to get a grip [on the ball], but at the end, there’s no excuse,” Anthony added, per Browne. “It’s just a mix of everything. At the end of the day, it’s got to be at least competitive, and it wasn’t. Again. So, it’s terrible.”