Roman Anthony had the weight of the world thrown on his shoulders by the Red Sox and the front office’s failure to construct a contending lineup around him.
Last June’s trade of Rafael Devers and the subsequent free-agent departure of Alex Bregman left little to fear in Boston’s offense. Anthony did produce at a high level in 2025 before his September oblique injury. That doesn’t mean it’s smart to immediately force him into the role of the primary offensive weapon in his age-22 season.
Whether it’s
pressure, the flow of the early weeks or just a plain slump, Boston’s young star simply hasn’t hit like one so far. His lone home run came in a pinch-hit at-bat in Houston, though the swing was impressive with an opposite-field blast against Astros closer Bryan Abreu.
Anthony holds just a .686 OPS through his first 22 games. He also missed the final two games of the series loss to the New York Yankees with a back issue. Not great news given his injury last fall.
His struggles are among the many reasons for gutted belief in the team after a 9-16 start.
Want a little bit to believe in?
Anthony continues to show progress in the areas that built his offensive profile: he’s hitting the ball hard (89th percentile average exit velocity) and still takes his walks (91st percentile walk rate).
Not to mention that he already showed once in 2026 that he can get hot quickly. Former Red Sox infielder and Team USA hitting coach Sean Casey got an up-close view of that run during the World Baseball Classic in March.
“I like the way he works in the cages,” Casey told OverTheMonster.com in a recent interview. “I like how he was really driving the ball in the gaps in batting practice, really trying to work that left center gap. You can tell he was really working the middle of the field. So I just love the way he worked. I think sometimes it takes years to develop a really good routine. And I feel like he has a good routine. He has a good feel of what he’s trying to do and a good feel of what his strengths are.”
We’ve all seen Anthony unload on some pull-side blasts over the last year, from his Spring Breakout rocket to his 497-foot grand slam in Worcester and his Yankee Stadium second-deck shot in August. With that said, Casey sees Anthony’s ability to join elite left-handed hitters and find a new gear with pivots to the opposite field.
“Your best hitters, their approach is out over the plate,” Casey explained. “For Roman Anthony, I was waiting to see what he said, but I think the best hitters are trying to drive the ball to left center. He was saying center, left of center; which I liked. And he was like, ‘I try to stay in the middle of the field. That’s when I’m at my best.’ And I was like, ‘Man, that’s a great approach for anybody.’ But for a 21 year old kid and seeing how his approach was, I could understand why he’s such a great player.”
The conventional thinking for optimizing offense at Fenway Park is to load up on right-handed power. That’s valid and the Red Sox must build offenses around that trend for years and years to come. At the same time, the wall can kill slumps for the adaptable lefties who can embrace it.
“He’s gonna get hot. He’s gonna get hot and put up some damage numbers,” Casey said. “The thing about Roman, he’s got big-time power so he could put up five homers in a week and drive in a bunch of runs.”
Casey continued: “I think the biggest thing for him is really to use that Monster. He’s got a really good left center approach. I think the Monster can get you hot quickly. I saw Big Papi do it when I played with him in 2008. For years watching him, I always felt like when he got in trouble, he’s like, gotta get off that monster and everything would open up. I think Roman’s gonna learn that if he can really use the dimensions of Fenway to help him out. But the biggest thing is, he’s gonna get hot. I mean, that’s the bottom line.”
His abilities at the plate will spark great seasons. His humility and personality will make him a perennial All-Star and an impeccable teammate. Those qualities may be Casey’s greatest takeaways from his time with Anthony last month.
“That was probably one of my first impressions,” Casey recalled. “Like man, this guy feels like a veteran. It feels like a veteran the way he handles himself. But just such a great kid, man. Just a nice guy, hard worker. You know, one thing I loved about talking to him as the hitting coach was just asking him what his approach was and what he’s thinking in the box, what he’s thinking about in practice. What his work looks like. You know, he had some great answers about what he does and what he’s thinking and what he’s working on in the cages.”
Everybody knows the story of Anthony’s “rookie” responsibilities on Team USA of purchasing and lugging around the team’s massive speaker from workouts to bus rides and everywhere in between. Obviously vibes are different in WBC settings, rather than the exhausting grind of the season, but Casey watched this job bring Anthony into a core role in a star-studded clubhouse.
“These guys, these guys all have that swagger about them in a confident way, you know, not cocky, but a confident way,” Casey said. “There’s an air about him and something about Roman that he has.”
Alex Cora challenged Anthony when he left camp to soak up as much experience from as many teammates as possible, not just his friend and mentor in Bregman. Thus, the Red Sox outfielder quickly earned the respect of Aaron Judge, who will challenge him for years to come in the current state of baseball’s most historic rivalry, with a quick turnaround following a tiring travel day to Miami for knockout rounds in the WBC.
“The coaches go and we’re getting BP going,” Casey shared. “And I think Roman was in group two. And so he was behind the cage with me on the turtle and Judge says, ‘Hey, Roman. Good to see you’re on the other bus.’ And then, Roman says to Judge, ‘Hey, if there was a 7:30 (AM) bus, I would have been on it.’ And I was like, that’s awesome. You know, like you got these guys, the WBC is the best of the best, but you got Roman Anthony at 21.”
“They needed a rookie on the WBC team and he was kind of the guy and he really embraced it. It was kind of a fun thing and it endeared me to him more,” Casey added.
On the field, Anthony lived up to manager Mark DeRosa’s request to be ready to play every day. He joined Judge, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber as the only four USA players to play in all seven WBC games. Anthony hit .280 with a .920 OPS for the tournament and his clutch home run against the Dominican Republic helped vault the Americans back to a third-straight finals appearance.
“There were some pretty big environments there,” Casey said. “Felt like the moment wasn’t too big for him. You know, I felt like he believes in himself. He’s very confident. And, you know, I think that was one thing that really stuck out like, man, this guy’s not overwhelmed with anything. … When he came up with that big hit against the D-R, the big homer, you’re like, man, that’s huge right there. That place was basically an away game for us. I mean, so it was a pretty raucous environment, which is really cool.”
Anthony clearly made the strongest of impressions on the hitting coach, 12-year big-league veteran and MLB Network analyst. Casey kept Anthony in an elite class of young talent with names like Konnor Griffin and Bobby Witt Jr. with blindingly-bright futures as they rack up games under their belts.
That’s why it’s only a matter of time for Anthony’s resurgence if you ask “The Mayor.”
“You can’t teach experience,” Casey said. “I think for a guy like Roman Anthony, I don’t think the stage of Boston rattles him in the big leagues. I think it’s more about him getting settled in and getting hot pretty soon. Really feeling himself and then getting going.”
