BOSTON — More than a third of Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony’s starts in the big leagues so far have come at DH.
The 21-year-old has started nine games at DH, 14 games in right field and two games in left field.
“Roman needs to play the outfield. He cannot be a DH at 21,” manager Alex Cora said before Boston’s game against the Rays at Fenway Park on Friday.
The Red Sox know they need to not only get Anthony more games in the outfield. They also know they would be best served with Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Masataka Yoshida all in the same lineup together. That hasn’t happened yet since Yoshida returned from the injured list Wednesday.
One way of playing them all together is having Rafaela — who has 14 defensive runs saved in 757 ⅔ innings in center field this year — make an occasional start at second base.
“I think Ceddanne will be part of the (second base) mix, somehow, someway,” Cora said. “And it’s not like he’s going to play (there) five times a week, six times a week at second base. But him there to get all the lefties in the lineup, we’re considering that. Give him one or maybe two starts at second so we can get everybody else in the lineup.”
On those days, Duran would play center field and Anthony would play left field.
“I know what the kid (Rafaela) is doing. He’s one of the best defensive center fielders in the big leagues,” Cora said. “But Jarren did the same thing last year (playing center field). He led the league in outs above average and he was a force in center field.”
Duran has made 87 of his 91 outfield starts this season in left field. But he had 17 defensive runs saved in 810 ⅓ innings in center field last year. He played in center when Rafaela was moved to shortstop following Trevor Story’s early-season injury in 2024.
“So we feel pretty confident that he (Duran) can do the job over there,” Cora said. “Also, Roman needs to play the outfield.”
It’s also important to keep Rafaela’s bat in the everyday lineup. He’s batting .328 with a .362 on-base percentage, .642 slugging percentage, 1.003 OPS, 10 homers, 12 doubles, 24 RBIs and 23 runs in 37 games since May 28.
Marcelo Mayer and Romy Gonzalez will likely spend the most time at second base.
“We need to be kind of open-minded and smart about what he has done in the outfield just given that he has been elite out there,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said. “I think we always talked about what we believe he’s capable of doing in center field and he’s been even more than that. But when you have a roster with versatility, it kind of demands that you take advantage of that flexibility.”
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