Ever since he debuted, Roman Anthony has been one of the driving forces behind the Red Sox’s success, and now it appears the club will have to go on without him for the remainder of the regular season.
During an appearance on WEEI Wednesday afternoon, Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced that Anthony will be placed on the injured list due to a left oblique strain that could keep him out of action for four to six weeks.
“He’s going on the IL, he has an oblique strain, timetable we don’t know, it’s a moderate one, so usually takes from four to six weeks,” Cora said.
The Red Sox subsequently announced the move to the IL, adding that utility man Nick Sogard has been called up from Triple-A to fill his spot on the active roster.
Ranked as MLB’s No. 1 prospect at the time of his promotion in June, Anthony has quickly established himself as one of the top all-around players on the Red Sox. The 21-year-old outfielder is batting .292 with eight home runs, a .396 on-base percentage and 3.1 wins above replacement in 71 games, and earlier on Wednesday he was named American League Rookie of the Month for August.
Since his call-up on June 9 the Red Sox are 46-27, which is the second best record in MLB behind only the Milwaukee Brewers (50-23).
Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman called Anthony’s injury a “gut punch” following Tuesday’s win, but Cora said the club has no choice but to keep pressing on without him.
“He’s one of our best offensive players, it sounds harsh but we have to move on,” Cora said.
“We have to put that uniform on today and try to win a game. We’ve been through this before with (Triston) Casas and we traded (Rafael Devers), there’s been a lot of stuff with this team and we’ve been able to keep going, so I expect the group will do the same thing.”
Anthony is the latest key player to go on the injured list following fellow outfielder Wilyer Abreu, who has missed the last 14 games with a right calf strain that has lingered longer than originally anticipated. The Red Sox do still have enough outfield depth to get by, with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Masataka Yoshida and Rob Refsnyder available, plus recent Triple-A call-up Nate Eaton, who Cora said will take over the leadoff spot Wednesday with a lefty on the mound for the Cleveland Guardians.
But with 22 games remaining and the club locked in a tight postseason race, Anthony’s absence comes at a terrible time.
If Anthony is able to return on the short end of the 4-6 week timeframe, he could potentially be available for the start of the AL wild-card series on Sept. 30, which would be four weeks after the injury occurred Tuesday night. If he’s close but still needs a few more days, it’s also possible he could return for the ALDS, which begins on Oct. 4.
But if Anthony misses more time than that, it’s likely his absence could stretch deeper into the playoffs. Six weeks from the injury would fall on Oct. 14, which would be the off day between Games 2 and 3 of the ALCS, so barring any setbacks it’s likely he would return for that round. But in order for that to matter, the club would first have to make the postseason and win as many as two playoff series without him.
Can this Red Sox team hang in there until then? We’ll find out over the next few weeks.
Story by Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald.
