After playing in 93 games at the Triple-A minor league level, and blasting an eye-opening 497-foot grand slam home run just two days earlier in a Worcester Red Sox game against the Rochester Red Wings — the longest home run at any level of professional baseball this season — 21-year-old Roman Anthony has finally been called up to the Boston big league team, according to a report by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.
Anthony has been rated as the No. 1 prospect in baseball all season by MLB Pipeline. Why he was not called up sooner by the struggling and underachieving Red Sox has been something of a mystery and source of frustration for Red Sox fans.
“Anthony will play right field and bat fifth on Monday. Wilyer Abreu will likely head to the injured list, which will make room for Anthony on the 26-man roster,” Speier reported.
Anthony Confirms Call-Up With Single Word
“Anthony, a 2022 second-round selection, put himself on the fast track with an uncommonly mature approach both on and off the field,” the Globe reporter continued.
“Across his three years in the Red Sox system, he’s shown excellent plate discipline and swing decisions along with an uncanny ability to hit the ball as hard or harder than anyone at his level, and the ability to excel against older competition,” Speier wrote.
Anthony has been a fan favorite at Polar Park, the Worcester, Massachusetts, home of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate. One fan was waiting for him as he drove away from the facility, presumably on his way to get on the Mass Pike which would take him more or less straight to Fenway Park.
When the fan asked him if he was “headed out,” Anthony calmly responded, “Yeah.”
As the West Palm Beach, Florida, native continued to drive, the excited fan congratulated him on the long-awaited call-up. Anthony then delivered an even-toned two-word response: “Thank you.”
If Anthony seemed rather laconic and subdued about getting what, to this point, must be the biggest news of his young life, his minor league roommate and fellow top prospect — No. 8 overall per MLB Pipeline — Marcelo Mayer was more effusive.
Mayer was promoted to the Red Sox on May 24, for the second game of a doubleheader. A video at the time showed him elatedly breaking into applause as he was given the good news by Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy.
Last of ‘Big Four’ Prospects to Finally Make MLB Debut
“Marcelo Mayer just said he just talked to Anthony, who is on his way to the park now,” wrote Rob Bradford of WEEI.com on Monday afternoon. “Mayer said the news feels the same as when he was promoted. Couldn’t wipe smile off his face.”
After last season, the Red Sox had a “Big Four” group of top prospects, topped by Anthony and Mayer, along with second baseman Kristian Campbell and catcher Kyle Teel. Though Anthony was consistently the highest ranked of the four, he now becomes the final member to make it to the big leagues.
Campbell broke spring training camp with the Red Sox and has remained on the roster all season. Teel was traded to the White Sox in the package that brought lefty ace Garrett Crochet to Boston. The 23-year-old backstop made his MLB debut with Chicago on Friday.
Top Prospect Roman Anthony Delivers One-Word Message On Call-Up to Red Sox