In a season where the Boston Red Sox have struggled to find offense, they’ve missed star outfielder Roman Anthony. The former top-prospect has been out since May 4th when he suffered an injury while swinging.
Now, nearly a month later, Anthony shared an injury update on himself. He partially tore a ligament in his ring finger.
“I don’t know if it’s made clear, but it’s a partially torn ring finger ligament. My ring finger CMC (carpometacarpal), to be exact,” Anthony said on Baseball Isn’t Boring.
Anthony is hitting .229 with a .354 OBP, a .321 slugging percentage, and a .675 OPS. Like the rest of the Red Sox, it’s been a disappointment when he’s been healthy. Anthony knows that, too.
“Kind of a letdown, honestly,” Anthony said, per The Boston Globe. “Short sample size, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be… When I’m at my best, my swing decisions are great. When you’re swinging at good pitches, you have a better chance of hitting the ball in the air, and you have a better chance of doing what you want to do.”
Boston Red Sox Ownership Shared a Contradictory Injury Update on Roman Anthony
GettyBoston Red Sox President Sam Kennedy
Under normal circumstances, the Roman Anthony injury update would be an interesting note on his comeback to recovery. More important than the exact injury, though, would be how long it’s going to take for him to get back on the field.
These aren’t necessarily normal circumstances, though. Red Sox ownership has publicly shared a different injury.
Sam Kennedy, who is President of the Boston Red Sox and CEO of Fenway Sports Group, gave his own injury update on Anthony. On May 22nd, Kennedy said, “From what I understand, he’s got a sprain in the ligament at the base of the ring finger, there’s no evidence of the tear… The imaging is negative. There’s been a second opinion to confirm that, but hand injuries are really tough for baseball players.”
That contradictory statement can mean a few different things. None of them are good for the Red Sox, though.
There is the potential for this to be a matter of miscommunication. Except, it’s not a good look if there’s poor internal communication about the player who is supposed to be the franchise’s cornerstone.
It could also be a matter of Kennedy trying to soften the severity of the injury publicly. That’s not a good look, either, though. Particularly when Anthony publicly shared that the injury is worse than Kennedy said it was. At a time when Red Sox fans have been openly frustrated with ownership and their approach to the Red Sox, this doesn’t help.
Best case, they were talking about the same thing but confused their language. A sprain is when a ligament is stretched, twisted, or even slightly torn. However, torn is the kind of language used for more complete ruptures. Simply put, a sprain remains different from a tear, though, and Kennedy said imaging was negative and there is no evidence of a tear.
Roman Anthony Began Swinging a Bat Again
GettyBoston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony
The most important thing for the Red Sox is getting Roman Anthony healthy. As far as that’s concerned, interim manager Chad Tracy did have some good news. He was able to take dry swings.
“Roman actually took 12 to 15 (dry) swings today and felt much better … next steps will be same thing tomorrow, only increasing the volume of the amount of swings he takes, and he can increase activity as his tolerance dictates,” Tracy said.
Anthony previously swung back on May 18th. However, he suffered a setback at that point, feeling pain while he swung. At that point, the team had previously shut him down.
Red Sox Star Roman Anthony Shares Injury Update, Contradicts Team Ownership