Roman Anthony homers twice for WooSox. When will Red Sox call him up to Boston?
Top Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony is swinging a red-hot bat for Triple-A Worcester. But it doesn't sound like he'll be playing for the Red Sox in Boston anytime soon.
Anthony crushed a pair of homers for the WooSox in the first game of Thursday's double header against Rochester, including his first career grand slam.
Anthony's first home run of the afternoon was a 410-foot leadoff shot in the first inning. He followed it up with a grand slam in his next at-bat in the third, a line-drive to the opposite field that put Worcester on top, 8-0.
That was more than enough for the Worcester pitching staff, which threw a seven-inning combined no-hitter in the 8-0 victory. Anthony finished the game 2-for-4 with five RBI. He was 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base, a run scored, and two strikeouts in the nightcap.
Anthony's hit-less Game 2 snapped a six-game hitting streak for the 20-year-old, who has really found his groove for Worcester over the last week-plus. He slashed .478/.566/.816 with a 1.382 OPS over his streak, and is up to a .283 batting average and 1.018 OPS for the season. Thursday was his second two-homer game of the season.
It looks like Anthony's bat is ready for the next level. But a crowded Boston outfield isn't the only reason he's still in the minor leagues.
Roman Anthony dealing with minor shoulder injury
There's no clear path to the Red Sox outfield for Anthony just yet, with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu making up the team's starters and veteran Rob Refsnyder in the utility role. There's a chance Anthony could take over in left and push Duran to center and Rafaela (who is hitting just .211 through 17 games) to the utility spot, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
That's because Anthony hasn't played the outfield in a week due to a minor shoulder injury, according to Chris Cotillo of Mass Live. He is expected to return to the field "in the near future," according to Cotillo, but the team won't call him up until he's completely healthy and back to being an everyday outfielder. There's no room for Anthony at DH with Rafael Devers occupying that spot on a fulltime basis.
But once Anthony starts playing the field for Worcester again, expect chatter of a possible promotion to really ramp up for the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball.
