After a hideous offensive showing during a home sweep against the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox will look to turn the page against the Baltimore Orioles, another tough divisional opponent. Unfortunately, they'll do so without Roman Anthony in the lineup for the third day in a row.
Boston dropped its lineup for its upcoming series in Baltimore and Anthony's name is nowhere to be seen. The outfielder reportedly tweaked his back on a random swing in the Sox's April 21 game against the Yankees. He played out the rest of the night, but hasn't appeared in a game since.
The Red Sox hoped Anthony's back would heal after just one game on the sidelines and expected him to play in the series finale against New York. According to Alex Cora, he was allegedly available off the bench, but he never got into the game. Another day on the sidelines is a troubling sign for the Red Sox.
Cora said after Boston's April 23 loss to the Yankees that Anthony had been "feeling better, but not great." He's been labeled as day-to-day, but even that is concerning after the Red Sox initially reported he'd only need one day to recover.
Red Sox keep Roman Anthony out of their lineup with back soreness for the third day in a row
Boston had been lucky to get through most of spring training relatively unscathed in terms of injuries — Romy Gonzalez's lingering shoulder injury has still been the worst of it. Johan Oviedo has been on the injured list since his first appearance out of the bullpen, and Sonny Gray recently joined him. The Red Sox were correct about Willson Contreras' recent injury and his two-game recovery timeline, which was nice to see, but the underestimation of Anthony's timeline, even by a day or two, raises concern.
The most annoying part of Anthony's absences is that he appeared to be on the verge of a breakout just before his back issue popped up. He's slashed .225/.361/.325 over 22 games, but started showing promise in his last seven, when clocked a .261/.433/.304 slash line. His on-base percentage is particularly promising, as Anthony was making some confounding swing decisions early in the season and striking out more than normal.
Hopefully, Anthony's absence on April 24 will be the last due to his back soreness. Three days spent rehabbing an issue that was only supposed to take one day is certainly troubling, especially since the Red Sox's offense has been so horrible — Anthony needs to be getting as many reps as possible.
A rare look on the bright side: At least the Red Sox have four other outfielders they can turn to while Anthony is healing. One of them, Masataka Yoshida, is one of the team's best hitters who wasn't getting nearly enough playing time before.
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