Will Roman Anthony Join the Red Sox’s Starting Lineup in 2025?

This offseason, the Boston Red Sox have had a clear plan: upgrade their pitching staff.

With the team likely losing Nick Pivetta, this is an area they need to address. They have already made a move for Garrett Crochet, but rumors are circling that both outfielder Wilyer Abreu and first baseman Triston Casas will be made available in trades for more help in the rotation.

If the team decides to use Abreu to upgrade the rotation, the outfield vacancy will need to be addressed quickly.

Boston has been tied to free agents such as Teoscar Hernández, and Anthony Santander, but they’ll likely have a lot of competition from the teams who missed out on Juan Soto if they try to land either of the sluggers. Moreover, while both of these hitters are proven at the major league level, Hernández has struggled with plate discipline, and Santander is a liability in the field.

This may put the Red Sox in a position where they need to address the hole internally. If this is the case, could they turn to Just Baseball’s number one prospect, Roman Anthony?

Breaking Down Roman Anthony’s Game

Drafted by the Red Sox with the 79th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Roman Anthony’s role in the team’s future has been relatively clear since day one.

MLB Pipeline ranked him as the no. 56 overall draft prospect ahead of the draft, which led to many scouts calling him a steal at no. 79. He’s lived up to that title since entering the professional scene, as he’s flown through Boston’s minor league system with ease.

This season, Anthony headed back to Double-A Portland to build upon his hot start at the level from the following season. He would do just that, as the 20-year-old flat-out crushed the baseball.

In 84 games with the Portland Sea Dogs, he crushed 15 home runs while slashing .269/.367/.489 with a 143 wRC+ and a .385 wOBA.

Anthony was one of the better hitters in all of the Eastern League during his time there, feared by pitchers everywhere. He had the third-highest wRC+, wOBA, and ISO, while leading the league in OPS and SLG.

His smooth, left-handed swing was a huge reason why he succeeded. His swing is very calm and easy to replicate, which allows for many benefits you don’t usually see in prospects his age. He maintains the ability to drive the ball to all fields and tap into some serious power while also being an extremely patient hitter.

Anthony’s patience is something to be noted from his time in Double-A this season. With a swing percentage of just 39.2% and a chase rate of 18%, he rarely expanded the zone, allowing him to capitalize on mistakes made by opposing pitchers. His 12.7% walk rate ranked among the best in the Eastern League, as he demonstrated an advanced approach for a 20-year-old.

His eye for the strike zone is truly elite. In addition to his 18% chase rate at Double-A this past season, he also whiffed just 25.4% of the time. Also, his out-of-zone swing rate of just 24.6% was also elite. It’s no surprise his walk rate was one of the top marks in the Eastern League.

This combination of power and such an elite eye for the strike zone is something you don’t usually see in many prospects, especially at just 20-years-old. Given Anthony’s success, Boston would make the decision to promote him to Triple-A, putting him even closer to reaching the major leagues.

Anthony continued to perform incredibly well in the 35 games he’d play for Worchester. In this span, he’d hit three home runs while maintaining walk and strikeout rates of 18.9%. He also slashed .344/.463/.519 with a .439 wOBA and a 162 wRC+. If there was any doubt before this that he was baseball’s number one prospect, he put those doubts to bed once and for all.

In this stint, we also got a better look at Anthony’s batted ball data, which is incredibly helpful for projecting his future.

In this 35-game stint, he recorded a barrel rate of nearly 8% as well as a hard-hit percentage of 45.5%. Both of these numbers are really solid, especially when you factor in his 90th-percentile exit velocity of 108.4 mph and his max exit velocity of 112.5 mph.

This puts him on par with hitters such as Willy Adames and Freddie Freeman in terms of max exit velocity, showing his power is already at a major league level.

Taking all of these numbers into consideration, we can see that Anthony absolutely hammered the ball on all cylinders, which was a phenomenal sign of what’s to come.

Not only did he crush the baseball at every chance he got, but he also maintained the same level of caution that made his plate discipline so good in the first place.

His swing percentage at Triple-A sat near his Double-A mark, coming in at 37.6%. He’d also maintain a solid whiff rate of 23.4%, as well as an out-of-zone swing rate of nearly 20%.

Anthony’s passiveness has led to a lot of the successes he’s had. That said, some began to wonder if he had actually become too passive at Triple-A.

His zone swing percentage of just 57.1% sat at the bottom of the Triple-A leaderboard, as he could be seen letting hittable pitches get past him often. This really shouldn’t become too large of an issue, but it’s going to be something to keep an eye on in the future.

Anthony also seemed to continue to struggle against breaking balls and off-speed pitches, as he’d go on to post subpar marks against both pitch groups.

His wOBAcon of just .310 against breaking balls was an alarming number to see. But, he didn’t chase them out of the zone often, as his out-of-zone swing percentage was just 18.8%.

Against off-speed pitches though, he struggled a little more. His wOBAcon against them was just .277, while he also put up a very alarming whiff rate of just over 36%.

When you take Anthony’s entire minor league season into consideration, though, it was incredible. We saw him take steps forward in almost every part of his game.

From flashing some of the most power he’s shown to this point to being the on-base threat he’s always been, 2024 was a huge success for Boston’s young superstar.

Is Anthony Ready for the Show?

Now that we’ve established the type of player Roman Anthony is and how he performed in 2024, we’re left with one big question: Is he ready to make the jump to the big leagues next season?

In my opinion, the answer is a definite yes.

This past season, Anthony has shown me that he has all of the tools to make an immediate impact on the major league club, and I truly believe this can come as soon as Opening Day.

Anthony’s power will play incredibly well in Fenway Park, especially since the “Pesky Pole” could lead him to have a lot of success with pulled fly balls.

His 45.5% hard-hit percentage in Triple-A, along with the nearly 8% barrel rate he showcased, give me all the faith in the world that more long balls are on the way for the young slugger. Also, his 18 home runs this year were a career-high, which only adds to my hope that his power will continue to develop.

His on-base skills are where he’ll really continue to shine, however, as he’s consistently posted extremely high on-base percentages and wOBAs at every level he’s played at.

His lowest wOBA this season was his .385 mark at Double-A, and only 9 qualified hitters in Major League Baseball had higher marks this season. The same type of comparison can be made for his lowest on-base percentage of .367, which was only beaten by 13 qualified MLB hitters this season.

While we know his on-base skills, strike zone awareness, and power all have the potential to be off the charts, I do have a few places where I’d like to see him improve.

Anthony’s eye is elite and will work to his benefit going forward. However, I do have the concern that he’s too patient at times. If he can swing at more pitches in the zone, I’ll feel even better about his chances to become a true superstar. Especially given how he’s crushed fastballs, being a little less patient may work to his benefit.

Another area I have some concerns about is how he’s done against breaking balls in his professional career. He’s still a work in progress against these pitches, which may really hurt him early on in the big leagues.

Anthony has shown some swing-and-miss tendencies against breakers all throughout his career, and I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw in how he fared against them in Triple-A. He has also been pitched around using breaking balls, which shows that teams know how to beat him.

However, I believe it’s nothing he can’t improve upon, as it may be a case where he just needs to see them more often and learn to control his approach a little bit better.

Something else to note is that while his defense may allow him to stick in center field, he might work better in a corner outfield position. But, he possesses the raw athleticism to play any outfield position if asked.

Ultimately, the size of the role Anthony plays in 2025 partially depends on whether or not the Red Sox decide to move Wilyer Abreu (or if they decide to upgrade the outfield on the free agent market). But, if they choose to use one of their outfielders as leverage to upgrade the pitching staff, things begin to line up for Anthony to get his shot on Opening Day.

If he can continue to make strides to be less passive and improve against breaking balls, while maintaining the on-base skills that make him so elite, I believe he’s in a good position to succeed.

His strengths – power, plate discipline, and defensive versatility – make him a good fit for Boston moving forward. While he needs to improve his aggressiveness in the zone and refine his approach against breaking balls, these are normal struggles for a player of his age.

Given his production in Triple-A and the possibility for the Red Sox to use their outfielders for leverage in a trade, this team should give Roman Anthony the opportunity to make an impact in 2025.