BOSTON — Kristian Campbell became the first member of Boston’s “Big Three” to reach the majors and has made an instant impact in his first two weeks with the Red Sox. Now, Roman Anthony Watch is on.
The timeline for an Anthony promotion, as well as where he’ll fit in when he does come up, are two of the biggest questions facing the Red Sox as the season gets into full swing. The glut of major league outfield options made it almost a certainty that Anthony wouldn’t crack the Opening Day roster, but as the season goes on, the soon-to-be 21-year-old may start knocking louder on the door to the majors.
The Red Sox don’t have to be in a hurry to promote Anthony because they have Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Campbell, Rob Refsnyder and, when healthy, Masataka Yoshida, as ready-made outfield options at the major league level. But the sense is they’re not going to be afraid to pull the trigger on an Anthony promotion when they deem him ready.
“There are certain players, and we’re hopeful and optimistic that we have a handful of those, who create their own timeline,” said chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “But then, the bulk of guys who get to the big leagues do so because an opportunity arises on the big league club. I think that this will likely be some balance of both these things.”
Anthony’s stat line — a 5-for-30 start with two homers, a triple and 31 strikeouts for the WooSox — isn’t necessarily inspiring. But the discrepancy between a .167 average and .808 OPS tells a larger story of how early-season results can be deceiving. He’s still hitting the ball extremely hard at a high rate, and as the youngest player in all of Triple-A, now has a .949 OPS at the level in 44 games. The Red Sox know he can hit, but want to see him face more left-handers and get some more exposure in the outfield before bringing him up.
Anthony smashed lefties to the tune of a .316 batting average with three homers and a .904 OPS in 116 plate appearances last year. But the Red Sox know that left-on-left pitching gets harder by the level and Anthony, who is 1-for-10 with four strikeouts and four walks against southpaws so far this year, is still getting seasoned.
“What we saw in spring training is a very mature approach,” Breslow said of Anthony, who was 7-for-34 (.206) with a homer, 12 strikeouts, 10 walks and a .715 OPS in spring training. “Good strike zone discipline. That’s getting tested a little bit right now. A little bit more punch-out than we’re used to seeing, but it’s super early.
“Developmentally, (getting him) a little more comfortable playing in the outfield,” Breslow continued. “And then also getting him exposed to left-on-left, making sure he can handle that. He has done significant damage vs. right (handed pitchers) and we trust that long-term, it’s not going to be an issue, but in the short-term, giving him a chance to get exposed to left-handed pitching is the thing that’s front of mind right now.”
The Red Sox will want Anthony to play every day when he does come up, and there’s no reason to think Boston will cut into the playing time of either Duran or Abreu to do so. Therefore, Rafaela is the player most likely to see a role change once Anthony’s up, assuming everyone’s healthy.
The club sure seems to be readying Anthony to play left field in the big leagues. After he started just 18 games (153 ⅔ innings) in left last year across Double-A and Triple-A, he has made five of his nine starts there so far this season. He logged 81 games (78 starts) and 683 ⅓ innings in center in 2024 but has gotten just three games there in 2025. And in right field, where he barely played (48 innings) a year ago, he has played just once thus far.
Though Alex Cora reversed course and is now playing Campbell in center over Rafaela on days David Hamilton is in the lineup as the second baseman so that Duran can be the full-time left fielder, it seems more likely than not that Duran will once again play a good amount of center field when Anthony reaches the majors. Abreu is a safe bet to stay in right — and Rafaela could spell him against certain left-handed pitchers. It would be easier to break Anthony in as a big-leaguer in left than it would be in center, and Duran has proven to be a good enough defensive center-fielder to accommodate that. But tough decisions are to come.
One factor that doesn’t seem likely to impact those decisions is the Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) program, which was implemented by MLB and allows teams to secure a draft pick if players who spend the vast majority of their rookie seasons in the majors win certain awards. By starting Campbell in the big leagues, the Red Sox will receive a pick after the first round if he wins American League Rookie of the Year honors or secures a top-three MVP finish. For Anthony to qualify, he’d need to spend 172 days on the active roster this season. To do so, he’d need to be promoted by the end of this week.
Breslow indicated that the PPI deadline is not factoring into the development timelines of top prospects like Anthony or Marcelo Mayer.
“We have to do what’s best for each individual player and if we do that, we’re going to do what’s best for the team,” Breslow said. “All of those incentives are well and good if they fall into place. If that’s the driver of the decision, you’ve got the wrong priorities.”
The Red Sox, off to a 6-7 start after three bad offensive nights at home against the Blue Jays, are comfortable knowing that reinforcements like Anthony are coming at some point, even without a trade to get someone outside the organization. Even Breslow, in charge of the big-league club on a daily basis, has a close eye on Worcester.
“I try not to get so consumed with everything happening here that it becomes the only point of focus,“ said Breslow. ”Usually, we’ll have all the games on in the suite or I’ll pull up the stream. We do a really good job of documenting the development initiatives, the progress and the reports. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what’s going on up and down the organization.”
