Red Sox Frustrate Fans With Call-Up of Triple-A Outfielder Not Named Roman Anthony

The Boston Red Sox announced no fewer than five roster moves on Sunday, but none of them were the one the team’s fans have been demanding for weeks.

The Red Sox did, in fact, call up an outfielder from Triple-A Worcester. But that player was not the No. 1 prospect in baseball, Roman Anthony.

Boston ended April at 17-15, just two games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. In the month of May, the Red Sox went 11-17, dropping to fourth place, 8 1/2 games behind their arch-rivals, the Yankees.

One of the main reasons for the bleak month was their offensive collapse. In April, Red Sox hitters were third-best in MLB, in terms of OPS, at .786. For May, that number plunged to .715, ranking Boston hitters 14th in the month.

They ranked 16th in runs scored with 116. In April, the Red Sox led all MLB teams, scoring 148 runs. Pretty clearly, the Red Sox offense needed a jolt.

At Worcester, Anthony appears to have nothing left to prove. In 237 plate appearances over 52 games, the 21-year-old from West Palm Beach, Florida, has posted a .935 OPS with a .305 batting average and eight home runs.

But on Sunday, the Red Sox did not call up Anthony, instead adding 28-year-old Nick Eaton, a 2018 21st-round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals. Eaton played 72 games for the Royals over 2022 and 2023, batting .201 with a .549 OPS.

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At Worcester this year, Eaton has an .811 OPS with five home runs.

The continued snub of Anthony left fans frustrated to say the least, as some charged the Red Sox front office with engaging in service time manipulation, the legal but questionable practice of keeping a prospect in the minor leagues for the sole purpose of pushing back his eligibility for arbitration and free agency once he reaches the big leagues.

Others were simply flabbergasted Anthony was ignored in favor of an inferior player, even as the Red Sox offense was floundering.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Red Sox chief of baseball operations Craig Breslow attempted to explain why Anthony continues to languish at the Triple-A level, even as the major league team would appear to be in desperate need of his bat.

“We’re trying to balance what’s best for Roman and his development with where we are as a team and the way we’re prioritizing our 2025 season,” Breslow said, as quoted by MassLive. “You also have to be willing to react to the situation you have right now. It’s impossible to ignore the performance he has had in Triple-A and how that’s lining up with our struggles here at the big league level, but we’re also trying to be mindful of the environment that we put him in, what he still has to work on, and what the pressure and demands would be. We’ll try to make the best decision we can for him.”

Fans weren’t buying it.

In other roster moves Sunday, the Red Sox designated backup catcher Blake Sabol for assignment, optioned first-baseman Nick Sogard to Worcester, placed reliever Justin Slaten on the 15-day injured list with “right shoulder inflammation,” and recalled righty bullpen arm Luis Guerrero from Triple-A to fill in for Slaten.

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