It’s been obvious to anyone watching the Red Sox over the past few months that the addition to the lineup of rookie outfielder Roman Anthony had an enormous impact on the team. Anthony’s ability to get on base–he hit .292 with a .396 on-base percentage this season–especially as a leadoff man transformed the Red Sox into one of the best offenses in the American League for a two-month span.
Then came the strained oblique muscle injury he suffered during a strikeout against Cleveland on September 2, an injury that was slated to cost him the rest of the regular season. While the Sox are piecing the team back together now, the absence of Anthony is still very much felt.
And hopes for a speedy recovery have dwindled. It’s possible, even likely, we won’t see Anthony on the field again until spring 2026.
The original outlook on Anthony was for a 4-6 week recovery time, which would put him back right at the start of the MLB playoffs, on September 30, at the earliest. But chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said on Tuesday that Anthony is still not on the cusp of a return.
Roman Anthony Has ‘Still Quite a Bit of Room’ to Get Healthy
Anthony is able to keep in shape. But the mechanics of a swing requires much strain on the obliques, and Anthony is simply not ready for that.
“Being around him a little bit, you can see he’s getting more comfortable,” Breslow said. “When it first happened, you could look at him and tell that he was in quite a bit of discomfort and pain. That has subsided, but there’s still quite a bit of room to get to in terms of baseball activities.”
The Red Sox, of course, do not have room, not with the critical stretch run of the schedule running up. Boston plays two more games in Toronto before coming home to play the Tigers in a series that will determine their playoff future (or lack thereof).
Getty ImagesRed Sox Chief of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow
Red Sox Knew Injury Would ‘Take Some Time’
Still, there is hope that Anthony could come back in time for a playoff push, depending on how long the Red Sox can last into October. But again, the schedule moves fast from here–the second round of the playoffs start a week from Saturday, and that’s still only four-and-a-half weeks after Anthony’s injury.
Breslow would not say that the team is rushing him back, but with the abyss of the offseason ahead, there is reason to accelerate his return.
“Making progress,” Breslow said. “Getting a little more comfortable every day. But it’s an injury that we knew would take some time to heal and get back on the field. He and medical staff are working as hard as they can to try to accelerate the timeline to make that possible.”
Red Sox Might Have Made a Trade if They’d Known Injuries Were Coming
Breslow was also asked whether he regrets not doing more to address the Red Sox offense at the July trading deadline. Breslow’s two moves were to add reliever Steven Matz and starter Dustin May, and while May was injured after going 1-4 in five starts, Matz has been very good, with a 2.21 ERA in 19 appearances.
But the Red Sox did not beef up the offense–something he might have done if he’d known that Anthony and Wilyer Abreu would be hurt.
“It’s a tough question to answer. If we were to have known that Wily would be down and Roman would be down, maybe we would’ve acted differently,” Breslow said. “But we pursued every opportunity that we had to improve the team, and you have to prioritize where you think the greatest areas of needs are. And those things clearly can change pretty quickly. But that’s the reason it’s important to have organizational depth.”
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