‘Polarizing’ Red Sox Prospect Making Fast Ascension In Rankings

Many Red Sox fans are rightfully keeping close watch on Marcelo Mayer and waiting for his arrival to Boston.

But there’s an under-the-radar prospect in the Red Sox farm system at the moment that might deserve a few more eyeballs on him after being tabbed as one of the “biggest arrow-up prospects” in all of baseball by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.

Roman Anthony, who the Red Sox drafted at No. 79 overall in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft, certainly has made a strong impression, even though the young right fielder, who just turned 19 years old earlier this month, has only played 49 career games in the minors.

“Anthony, meanwhile, was a classic polarizing prospect whose stock dipped a bit after a couple of bad summer events (which teams heavily value because of the wood bats and strong competition) followed by a strong high school spring against decent competition in South Florida,” McDaniel wrote. “He has one of the lowest chase and swing rates in the minors to go with the best age-adjusted exit velos in the minors, a strong bat-to-ball foundation and the athleticism to be a solid right fielder. He could stand to be a bit more aggressive and lift the ball more, but those are relatively easy adjustments.”

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Anthony is with Single-A Salem to begin this season, batting .241 with one home run and 16 RBIs to go along with four stolen bases. As McDaniel mentions, Anthony’s plate discipline definitely stands out. He has more walks than strikeouts, recording 25 base on balls compared to fanning 24 times.

Anthony, who is ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Red Sox system by MLB Pipeline, obviously still has a long way to go before anticipation even builds about him reaching the majors. After all, he was just playing high school baseball last year as he won Florida’s Gatorade High School Player of the Year Award.

But the good recognition makes it at least seem he’s in a strong place in the very early stages of his professional career.