How Red Sox’s Craig Breslow Reacted To Roman Anthony Injury

The Boston Red Sox suffered a significant blow when losing Roman Anthony to an oblique injury.

Boston placed Anthony on the injured list Wednesday with an injury that will likely sideline him for the rest of the regular season. The rookie outfielder is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow discussed the unfortunate development during a Thursday radio interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”

“Yeah, that was a tough one,” Breslow said. “We’ve seen what Roman adds to our team in a really short amount of time. He’s emerged as one of the best players in this league.”

Anthony ignited Boston’s lineup by batting .292/.396/.463 since his June 9 call-up. The Red Sox have soared into the playoff picture with the 21-year-old’s help, but Breslow sees the setback as another obstacle for the squad to circumvent.

“Time and time again, the team has proven to be resilient in overcoming adversity,” Breslow said. “And this is going to be another challenge that we’re going to have to figure out how to overcome.”

Anthony’s timetable offers a vast range of outcomes. A four-week absence would allow him to return early in the postseason. If out for six weeks, he’d hope to come back during the American League Championship Series.

“I think it makes sense to be optimistic,” Breslow said of Anthony’s potential playoff return. “Roman and our medical staff are committed to doing everything that they can to get him back on the field, so we’re gonna hold out hope that he’s going to be able to get back on the field and help us.”

However, the organization won’t risk another injury by rushing back the burgeoning face of the franchise.

“That’s the balance that we got to figure out,” Breslow added. “We’re all aware of what the timeline is in terms of the regular season and our ambitions for playing deep into the postseason, so we’ll do everything we can to get him back. But we have to do that responsibly and make sure that we’re not putting himself or the team in a worse position by trying to move this along too quickly.”