On Tuesday night, the Boston Red Sox imposed their will against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, slugging five home runs off righty Bowden Francis in a blowout win (BOS 10, TOR 2). It was Boston’s third straight win and their ninth win in the last 13 games. In those 13 games, the Red Sox have outscored their opponents 80-48.
Rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell hit one of those five homers Tuesday, raising his season batting line to .313/.420/.515 through 28 games. Campbell entered 2025 as one of the top prospects in baseball, made the Opening Day roster, then signed a long-term extension a few days into the season. Things could not be going much better for the 22-year-old.
Campbell, as good as he is, is not even Boston’s top prospect. Outfielder Roman Anthony is the best prospect in baseball, period, and he is off to a roaring start in Triple-A: .306/.439/.565 with five home runs and nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (22) in 24 games. Anthony was limited to DH duty recently by a nagging shoulder issue, though it hasn’t slowed him down at the plate.
Questions about when the Red Sox will call up Anthony began last year and carried over into spring training and the regular season. Those questions will continue until he is called up. That’s the way it goes. Here’s what senior director of player development Brian Abraham said about Anthony’s timeline on the Fenway Rundown podcast Tuesday (transcript via MassLive.com):
“For Roman, you’ve seen a guy who has hit the ball hard all over the ballpark, who has played solid defense. I think we’d love to see him pull the ball in the air more for a little bit more damage. He certainly has the ability to drive the ball to all fields. We’ve seen him do that this year, but when he’s the most impactful, he is able to get the ball out front and really drive the baseball consistently. He, and even Marcelo (Mayer) at times, hit the ball so hard, that when they hit it into the ground, it’s really not doing any benefit to anyone. Both of those guys, when they’re really attacking the baseball, elevating the baseball for extra bases, for impact, those are the things we’re looking for on the offensive side. And both seeing left-handed pitchers more is a really important thing at the level they’re playing at.”
Anthony is running a 46.0% ground ball rate this season, just a few ticks below the 48.0% he put up between Double-A and Triple-A last year. His pull rate is down to 32.8% this year after sitting at 43.1% last year. The Triple-A averages are 44.3% grounders and 41.8% pulled, so Anthony is putting the ball on the ground more than average and pulling it less than average. Boston wants to see improvement there.
Furthermore, Anthony is a left-handed hitter who has taken only 157 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers the last two years. He’s performed very well in those 157 plate appearances (.313/.420/.489), but it still only 157 plate appearances, and only a handful have come at the Triple-A level, where Anthony will be exposed to pitchers with MLB experience.
Keep in mind that Anthony is only 20 years old. He’ll turn 21 in two weeks. He’s five months younger than Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette, a candidate to go No. 1 overall in July’s amateur draft. Anthony is so far ahead of where most players are at his age, developmentally. More time in Triple-A to work on his batted ball profile and get exposed to lefties is understandable.
Also, the Red Sox are not in desperate need of outfield help at the moment. Jarren Duran is entrenched in left, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder combine to make for a heck of a platoon in right, and young Ceddanne Rafaela is getting a long look in center. Rafaela has not hit much in his MLB career to date, though he is a fantastic defender and helps the Red Sox that way.
At some point this summer, the Red Sox will call Anthony up. When they do, they want it to be for good. They want him check all the necessary boxes in Triple-A and not have to shuttle him up and down. Anthony is way ahead of schedule with his development. It hasn’t happened yet, but I won’t be too much longer before he joins Campbell in Boston’s lineup.
