MLB Writer Discusses Red Sox ‘Fatal Flaw’

The Boston Red Sox are still banking on a deep postseason run. They have plenty of talent on the roster to make that happen, provided everyone is playing at a high level when it matters most. With a pitching rotation headlined by a bona fide ace, Boston will be a tough out in a playoff series. Still, things got a lot more difficult for the Red Sox as soon as Roman Anthony went down with an injury.

For Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly, Anthony’s injury could end up being the reason Boston falls short of its goals in 2025. In a new piece describing the “fatal flaw” of each remaining contender in MLB, Kelly pointed to the loss of Anthony as Boston’s most glaring issue.

“Roman Anthony has gone from the top prospect in baseball to the most impactful position player on the Red Sox in a hurry,” Kelly wrote. “That makes the loss of the 21-year-old to a left oblique strain a difficult pill to swallow.”

“Across his first 71 MLB games, Anthony is hitting .292 with 18 doubles, 40 walks, an .859 OPS and eight defensive runs saved in right field,” Kelly continued.

“With Alex Bregman, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Trevor Story, Alex Cora’s lineup isn’t bare without (Anthony), but his loss probably for the rest of the regular season—he was placed on the IL on Sept. 3—is going to make it difficult for the Red Sox to win the AL East.”

“Even if the Red Sox are able to get into the playoffs without Anthony—be it as division winners or wild-card representatives—there’s no guarantee he’ll be back for the playoffs.”

“While Boston didn’t put a specific timeline on Anthony’s return, Cora acknowledged the typical absence for someone with this injury is four to six weeks,” Kelly added. 

“If Anthony is at the back end of that, he won’t be ready for the start of the postseason. It’s also not a guarantee that he’s 100 percent again this year if he comes back at the front end of it. The good news for the Red Sox is that the window just appears to be opening with Anthony. However, there’s no time like the present, and in a wide-open AL, there’s no reason a healthy Red Sox team can’t win the pennant this year. But it’s much more difficult to imagine them doing so if Anthony has played his final game during the 2025 regular season, and perhaps the whole campaign.”

Red Sox fans are praying that Anthony can come back sooner than expected and shake off the rust right away once he does. That’s a lot to ask of a 21-year-old, but then again, Anthony has done nothing but exceed expectations since about a month into stepping on an MLB diamond.