It is closing in on two months since Roman Anthony went down with his finger injury while checking a swing on May 4th. Now, the Boston Red Sox still don’t appear to be close to getting their star outfielder back on the field.
Tim Healey of The Boston Globe shared the frustrating latest on the Anthony injury. He still hasn’t made substantive progress.
“Roman Anthony (sprained right wrist/hand) hasn’t made any substantive progress while the Red Sox have been away, Chad Tracy said. He occasionally tries to swing a lighter bat but hasn’t gotten to a real bat/hitting progression,” Healey wrote on Twitter/X.
It took some time and public miscommunication to even figure out what Anthony’s injury was. That included Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy sharing that Anthony had a sprain, before Anthony publicly contradicted him by calling it a tear. In the end, the diagnosis was a partial tear of a ligament in his right ring finger, or the CMC joint. All of that has added to the frustration surrounding this particular injury.
This is Anthony’s second season in MLB, and it’s his second season missing significant time due to an injury. In both cases, Anthony was injured while swinging.
This also comes in a season where, when he was on the field, Anthony struggled. He’s hitting just .229 with a .354 OBP, a .321 slugging percentage, and .675 OPS.
Boston Red Sox Star Roman Anthony Had Another MRI
GettyBoston Red Sox Outfielder Roman Anthony
Six weeks following the initial injury to Roman Anthony, the Boston Red Sox had him go in for another MRI. At the time, it seemed like all signs were pointing in the right direction. However, even at the time, interim manager Chad Tracy cautioned this wouldn’t mean he’s immediately swinging.
“That does not mean that because the picture said that, that it’s like he’s hitting today. … Things are looking good,” Tracy said. “But it’s still going to be at his progress and how he feels, and the medical staff will determine each day if he’s going to swing and try and see where we’re at, and we’ll progress based on medical and his feelings, but definitely a positive step there.”
Obviously, in the week since Anthony has had the MRI, he hasn’t seen much progress. He’s still not able to swing a fully weighted bat.
Roman Anthony Injury Unseen by Doctor in 32 Years
GettyBoston Red Sox OF Roman Anthony speaks to a trainer
Earlier in June, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe spoke to Dr. Mark Cohen, an orthopedic. There, he shared just how unique the injury to Roman Anthony is. In fact, Cohen hasn’t seen it in 32 professional years.
“I’ve been doing this 32 years. I actually have never heard of a ring finger-isolated CMC ligament tear,” Cohen said. “The joints in which the ligaments get injured are usually not the CMC level … They’re at the knuckle or joints within the fingers. If you look up ring finger ligament sprain, you’ll find nothing — zero — because it’s not a common injury.”
Obviously, having a unique hand injury when your job is to swing a bat isn’t a good thing. That’s no doubt part of why rehabbing the injury has been so difficult for Anthony.
The Red Sox and Anthony have been hesitant to put an exact timeline on his recovery. However, there had been some hope that it would be a six to eight-week recovery. That’s the window they’re now in for his return without positive progress.
Red Sox Get Frustrating Roman Anthony Injury Update