Red Sox finally promote their top prospect after intense media scrutiny
On Saturday, Roman Anthony hit a 497-foot grand slam for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. By Sunday, the Boston Globe and The Athletic had joined the already-loud chorus of media speculators calling for Anthony to be promoted.
Monday, the Red Sox gave in.
Anthony, the consensus number-1 prospect in MLB, is being promoted from Worcester for the Red Sox's game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.
Roman Anthony, the top prospect in baseball, has been called up to the Red Sox. From the man himself. pic.twitter.com/VwP5uBzyU4
— Katie Morrison-O'Day (@KatieMo61) June 9, 2025
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was first to report that Anthony will take the spot of outfielder Wilyer Abreu, who's going on the 10-day injured list.
According to Marcos Grunfeld of ElEmergente.com, Abreu has an oblique strain that is mild enough for him to return once the minimum 10 days are up.
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It's fun to speculate about Anthony's promotion being the direct result of fans' complaints, but it almost certainly would not happen without a spot in the outfield opening up in Boston.
Abreu had a 118 OPS+ through Sunday and the Red Sox did not want to lose the reigning AL Gold Glove winner's defense.
"You try to make these decisions as unemotionally as possible, which is really, really difficult because the rest of the organization and I are incredibly invested in the success of this team," Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow told ESPN in May. "You try to build out the best process you can when emotions aren't high so you can approach it as rationally as possible."
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Once Abreu got hurt, there was no question who should take his place.
Anthony was slashing .288/.423/.491 for Boston's top farm team. The Red Sox enter their series against the Rays with a 32-35 record, out of playoff position in the AL East and AL Wild Card races.
Now, Red Sox fans will get their first glimpse of what they've been missing.
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