Six years ago, Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman was in Houston when the Astros finally committed to bringing up Cuban slugger Yordan Alvarez, who had torched minor-league pitching going back to when he came to the U.S. in 2016. Alvarez showed no fear upon his arrival, hitting 27 homers as a rookie. He was injured in his sophomore season, but since then, he has hit at least 30 homes every year, and has a career batting average of .295.
Alvarez was a top-level star from the get-go. And for Bregman, when he looks a surging Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony, it’s Alvarez who comes to mind.
On Sunday, Anthony kept his sterling July going, as he went 1-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. He is now up to .267 at the plate, and for the month is at .315 with a .432 on-base percentage and a .493 slugging mark.
Roman Anthony ‘Has Been Awesome’ for Red Sox
Bregman has been in awe. Anthony does not quite have the power that Alvarez has, but figures to hover around 15-20 homers per year when he gets settled in. He has speed, though, and the kind of line-drive power that has helped him to 13 doubles already.
“Roman has been awesome,” said Bregman to reporters, via MassLive. “Four times on base last night, gets on his first at-bat today and then hits a big triple. He’s doing it. He’s going to be a special, special player. It’s definitely fun hitting in front of or behind him in this lineup. It reminds me of earlier in my career when Yordan Alvarez got called up. That’s my player comp for him.”
Roman Anthony Hitting .341 in the Past Month
It was a slow start for Anthony, of course, which is what makes this reversal in July so remarkable. In his first 15 games, Anthony was hitting .114. Since then? He’s at .341.
And Bregman was not the only veteran heaping praise on Anthony. Pitcher Walker Buehler has been impressed, too. Buehler gave the Red Sox 4.2 innings on Sunday, with his rotation spot in some jeopardy, and walked five batters. Boston eventually won, 4-3, thanks to a two-run homer by Bregman.
“I think he’s going to be one of the best players in the big leagues very, very soon,” Buehler said. “Personally, I think his brain and obviously the physical stuff everyone can see. But who he is as a person, I think is pretty special. I’ve been around some really good ones. I’ve been around Corey (Seager) and Cody (Bellinger) and seen how those guys progressed through the first couple years of their career. He’s definitely cut from that cloth.”
Red Sox Make Lineup Change
Anthony also took on a new role for the Red Sox on Sunday–for the first time this season, he batted leadoff for Boston. He had been hitting No. 2 or 3, but manager Alex Cora decided to move him up and slide normal leadoff man Jarren Duran to third.
“Roman has done that throughout his career (in the minors), and I feel like today was a good day to try it,” Cora said. “JD has been really good with men on throughout the season. So last night after the game, I was like, we should give it a try, see what happens.”
Red Sox’s Alex Bregman Turns Heads With Roman Anthony ‘Comp’