WORCESTER — Roman Anthony has a lot on his shoulders for anyone, never mind a 21-year-old.
He’s the top prospect in baseball, yet he’s stuck in Triple A with no obvious route to the majors. Every one of his at-bats are scrutinized; even his ‘off-the-field’ actions are picked apart, like when his teammates stuffed him in a laundry cart to wheel him out to the team bus in Scranton. The silly moment ignited a social media debate about taking the time to sign autographs.
Then there’s the big question – when is he going to be promoted to Boston?
It seems to be asked every time the Red Sox lose, which these days, is often. It’s asked every time the WooSox lineup comes out for the day. Fans across Red Sox Nation are clamoring for the best player in the minor leagues to help the team turn this disappointing season around.
So how’s Roman Anthony, the person, holding up these days? How does he keep his head on straight when his name seems to be on the tip of every baseball fan’s fingers?
“I’m a normal human being at the end of the day, I’m just a 21-year-old guy,” Anthony said. “So for me, just hanging out with my teammates and meeting guys who have been through it before. Just little things like that.”
Of course, it helps to connect with family and friends back home – talking with people who know the true Anthony, not just the budding superstar with the eye-popping numbers.
“Hanging out with my friends and calling friends back home, talking to family back home, I think that keeps me grounded a little bit,” Anthony said. “It’s a little different when people have a different kind of perception of you as an athlete. I call my friends and family back home, and it’s super normal.”
It seems that the attention on Anthony grows every single day. All over social media are calls for him to come to Boston and provide a jolt of energy to a sub-.500 team. But of course, the decision is out of Anthony’s hands, regardless of how hard he hits the ball or how good his advanced metrics look. But Anthony knows to keep the focus on where his feet are, an expression you’ll hear often in a minor league clubhouse.
“Every day that I’m here is a chance to get better, I think,” Anthony said. “And the more games I play at the Triple-A level, the more that [the team has] on me and then [we can see] glaring things that we need to clean up before we get up there.
“Knowing how good the guys are at the next level, you clean everything up here so that we’re going to go off and be ready. I think just by doing that and by showing up every day and trying to get better and capitalize on those things, it kind of helps everything move along.”
The spotlight on Anthony is brighter than any prospect that’s been in Worcester before, despite the many future major-leaguers who have stopped at Polar Park. Anthony is constantly fulfilling interview requests, signing autographs, and and always does so with professionalism.
“Physically on the field, I thoroughly enjoy sitting in that chair watching him play baseball. Watching him navigate all the extracurricular that’s around him is equally as enjoyable because there’s so much surrounding him,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said. “Even when he gets in a laundry cart as a joke, everybody’s going to make their judgments on it. He just handles everything with such grace and maturity that it’s fairly impressive to watch a guy at his age be able to do that.”
Anthony tends to stay level no matter what is happening on or off the field, although he hasn’t had much in the way of slumps to contend with. But with an 0-for-3 night on Thursday, Anthony has gone hitless in back-to-back games for the first time all season.
“Some guys ride the roller coaster and other guys stay right here,” Tracy said, holding his arm out in front of him, signaling a straight line. “In my experience with Roman, 99.9% of the time, Roman’s [even keel]. Regardless of how well he’s going or poorly he’s going or if things aren’t going well for him or not, he’s right here.”
So until something changes, Anthony is doing what he can to keep his head on straight in Worcester. But Red Sox fans can rest assured when he gets to Boston, he’ll bring that same professionalism and level-headed demeanor that have impressed throughout his short professional career.
WooSox 9, Red Wings 6
Blaze Jordan continued his impressive start to his Triple-A career, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles in his third game with the WooSox.
Philip Sikes went deep for his third home run of the year in Triple A, a two-run shot to left. Nate Eaton had a nice night with a double, single and RBI. Vaughn Grissom was hitless but walked twice and scored twice. Jhostynxon Garcia joined the hit party with a triple that was smoked between right and center field. Nick Sogard gave the WooSox some more insurance with a two-run double in the eighth.
Anthony was hitless for the second straight night, but he walked in both of his last two plate appearances.
Isaac Coffey made his Triple-A debut, going 3 1/3 (he was scheduled for a shorter outing as he’s not quite stretched out as a starter) and allowing one run on a solo homer to former WooSox outfielder Franchy Cordero.
What’s Next
The WooSox continue their series with Rochester on Friday night with Tyler Uberstine getting the start at 6:05 p.m. Richard Fitts will make his first start for Worcester this season on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. after he was optioned from Boston earlier this week.
