FORT MYERS, Fla. — As Roman Anthony waited for final approval to join Team USA for next month’s World Baseball Classic, he had to manage expectations.
Not his own.
“I didn’t want to jump the gun, given the insurance stuff,” Anthony told the Herald. “So I let my parents know, like ‘Hey, there’s a chance this doesn’t work out. So let’s not get too excited.’”
No surprise that’s how Anthony, who many teammates consider the most even-keeled, level-headed, 21-year-old they’ve ever met, reacted. In such “dream come true” moments, and there have been several over the last year, Boston’s burgeoning superstar consistently acts with intention and maturity beyond his years.
The last year tested Anthony in a multitude of ways. The general consensus is he passed with flying colors.
“It’s been a great year,” he said. “I think it’s not really one of those things that you can imagine.”
Anthony reported to his first big-league camp last winter as the No. 1 prospect, not only in the Red Sox organization, but in all of baseball. Still too young to buy a beer, he looked totally at home among the proven veterans as he competed for a spot on the Opening Day roster. (He turned 21 last May 13.)
“I learned a lot, learned a lot about myself, learned a lot last camp,” Anthony said. “It’s a little bit different coming into this camp. A lot of uncertainty last camp. … Grinding out every day in spring and then for me, not necessarily performing as good as I wanted to.”
Anthony didn’t make the team out of camp, but he didn’t have to wait long to get the call. He made his major league debut on June 9, and signed an escalator-laden eight-year, $130 million extension less than two months later. Not even a month after the deal, he suffered a season-ending oblique strain. He was forced to watch from the sidelines as the Red Sox completed their first winning season and playoff berth since 2021, though they couldn’t have gotten there without him.
“I couldn’t have asked for a more learning experience of a year,” Anthony said, “but a great year at the same time. There were so many different emotions, but I just learned from all of them, and really learned how to take care of myself.”
Taking care of oneself is different in the majors, Anthony quickly found out. Minor league teams play six-game series. A position player may face an opposing pitcher multiple times, which makes the advance work completely different. Struggling in his first big-league games, Anthony felt like a failure.
“The preparation side of things,” Anthony explained. “I did a really good job at understanding that I sucked at it in the beginning, and learning very fast that it’s different than the minor leagues and now I need to be a whole lot better at preparing and understanding matchups, who I might face, types of runners when I’m on defense, tendencies on guys, tendencies on things like third-base coaches and opposing teams who have a tendency of sending guys or not.”
“Just things like that, that I literally never thought of in the minor leagues, that I had to learn fast in the big leagues,” he continued. “If I could go back, I wish I would be better at it in the minors, but I think it’s a little bit more broad. … As ready as I felt, it was one of those things, I just had to experience it. I had to fail doing it in the big leagues in order for me to learn it and understand.”
Anthony hit .114 with a .518 OPS in his first 15 games, then .329 with a .931 OPS in the remaining 56. With help from Alex Bregman and Trevor Story, Anthony made a “big adjustment” after the Phillies series, shortening his swing to “tap into that home run power and get the ball in the air.” He felt he was just getting started when he suffered his oblique injury.
“Toward the end of the year I felt like I was just unlocking what I had, that the best was yet to come,” Anthony said, “and I still believe that, and that’s why I’m so excited for this year.”
So it was a different Anthony who reported to spring training this year, after learning how to prepare and adjust. And yet, it was the same Anthony. The same level-headed, well-spoken, family-oriented young man the Red Sox have seen navigate pressure like a pro since he was a teenager.
It’s a different roster, too, and the spotlight on Anthony is brighter than ever. Without Bregman and Rafael Devers, the Red Sox are looking to Anthony to be an offensive leader.
He wants to do that and more. He wants to do it all.
“Coming up, I don’t want to say I’m expected to hit, but my profile in the minor leagues, right, everyone expects me to hit,” Anthony said. “But for me, really taking pride in the defensive stuff everyday, too. I really, obviously, want to be the best hitter I can be, but at the same time I really want to take pride in my defense, and my reads, and help the team out in more ways than just hitting.”
Anthony knows the pressure is on him more than ever. But he also understands why.
“This is a failing game,” he said. “We’re just trying to help the team win a World Series, and anything short of that is a failure. And we understand that when we don’t win, we’re expected to win.
“I think we’re just lucky enough to be in a franchise that we are, and with the way that these fans are, how passionate they are, and having the best fan base in the world. And understanding that they’ll let you hear it.”
Anthony found that out in his debut.
“I learned quick it’s all about accountability,” he said. “Coming up in my first game and making a crucial error to lose against the Rays, you learn fast. … These fans, they expect a lot out of me in a way that, they have respect for me and they really enjoy watching me play, and they expect nothing but the best every single day. For me, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
What fans don’t realize is that the outfielder is harder on himself than anyone else, even in this market, ever could be.
“I hold myself to such a high standard that when I don’t perform or when things don’t go the right way, I’m already on myself enough that any outside noise doesn’t really mean much,” Anthony said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing, is I expect so much out of myself that anything really short of perfection, I’m continuing to try and get there. So I think that helps a lot.
“And I don’t really pay too much attention to all the outside noise. I don’t understand how anyone could, and play this game, right? It can be very easy to get trapped in it, so for me I just block all that out.”
