Is Roman Anthony already the leader of the Red Sox? The entire world already treats him as the club’s best player, and he backed that up with three hits and a walk on the first Opening Day start of his career. But the 21-year-old isn’t just leading the team on the field. “Even though it’s not a veteran presence, he can still take command of the clubhouse,” Garrett Whitlock said. “There’s a respect to his name.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Has there ever been a player in Red Sox history who’s received this much hype with such a small track record? Despite having just 257 career at-bats coming into this season, he already has the ninth-best selling jersey in baseball. (MLB.com)
And hey, Anthony is already leading the team in unnecessary and excessively baroque stats, as he became the youngest player in Red Sox history to reach base in the team’s first plate appearance of the season yesterday. Stand in awe of his prodigious gifts! (Lauren Campbell, MassLive)
Of course it wasn’t Anthony who delivered the key hit in yesterday’s game. That came from his beach buddy Marcelo Mayer, who didn’t start the game as the Sox were facing a lefty. But Anthony wasn’t surprised that Mayer delivered, saying that the young infielder’s spring training performance was “slept on” this year. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
What made Mayer’s performance even more impressive is that he came on as a pinch hitter, something he has almost no experience doing:
While Anthony may be correct in thinking that Mayer’s spring training performance was better than people thought, Garrett Crochet offered us a reminder that spring training performance just doesn’t matter at all. “I don’t think I’ve ever looked at somebody’s ERA or batting average [in spring training],” said Reds manager/New England’s baseball dad, Terry Francona. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
The Red Sox have already paid Anthony and Crochet. If Mayer lives up to his potential, he’ll be in line for an extension too. But don’t worry, the Red Sox can afford it — especially if they sell the naming rights to the field at Fenway Park. That’s not something they’re currently considering, but they are open to it. “We are always looking for ways to generate more revenue. We don’t hide behind that,” said Sam Kennedy, needlessly.
