Breakout Red Sox Prospect Surges In Updated Baseball America Rankings

Roman Anthony, who showed promise upon joining the Boston Red Sox organization in 2022, entered the 2023 season as a breakout candidate.

It’s safe to say the 19-year-old outfielder is making good on those expectations.

Baseball America recently updated its Top 100 prospect rankings, with changes to reflect the 2023 campaign to date. Anthony ranked No. 33, a huge jump for a prospect who wasn’t even ranked before the season.

“According to the underlying data there are few hitters better in minor league baseball than Anthony,” Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes wrote last week in a piece explaining the publication’s notable in-season risers. “His bat-to-ball skills are plus, his plate approach is elite and he has strong underlying exit velocity data that points to plus raw power in-game. While the stat line was underwhelming at Low-A Salem, with a promotion to High-A Greenville Anthony has taken off, hitting .362/.486/.845 with seven home runs over 16 games. Even more impressive, Anthony has 14 walks to 16 strikeouts and has seen an increase in his flyball and line drive rates. Anthony has the ability to handle all three outfield positions now but could move to a corner full-time. His well-rounded plate skills and developing plus game power make him one of the most exciting hitters in the lower minors.”

The Red Sox drafted Anthony in the second round last year out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He hit the ground running, slashing .306/.374/.361 in 20 games (83 plate appearances) in his first taste of professional ball.

This season represents a significant step in the right direction for Anthony, a left-handed hitter chosen with the compensatory pick Boston received for losing Eduardo Rodriguez to the Detroit Tigers in free agency. Clearly, prospect experts are beginning to reevaluate his ceiling based on his production and impressive batted-ball data.

SoxProspects.com ranked Anthony the No. 4 prospect in the Red Sox farm system, as of Thursday, behind Marcelo Mayer, Miguel Bleis and Ceddanne Rafaela. MLB Pipeline listed him at No. 5, behind the aforementioned trio and Nick Yorke.

Baseball Prospectus recently went so far as to rank Anthony the No. 9 prospect in all of Major League Baseball, one spot ahead of Mayer. That feels like a stretch, given how Anthony flew under the radar to start the season, but it nevertheless speaks to the hype suddenly surrounding the young outfielder.