There's no denying how much Roman Anthony's oblique injury hurts the Boston Red Sox. They've felt like a completely different team with him in the lineup compared to when he's been hurt or in the minor leagues.
When Anthony starts, the Red Sox are 40-26 this season. That 60.6% win rate would rank second behind the Milwaukee Brewers (61.4%) for the full season.
But when the superstar rookie isn't in Alex Cora's lineup, the Sox are just 40-39, barely above .500. Effectively, Anthony has been the difference in whether the Red Sox play like the San Francisco Giants or Brewers this year.
As such, David Schoenfield of ESPN laid things out pretty simply for fans: without Anthony, the Red Sox's chances of winning the World Series appear to be toast. The ESPN analyst labels Boston as a "pretender" for the postseason, citing Anthony's injury as the deciding factor in that unfortunate placement.
Roman Anthony's injury has MLB world looking at Red Sox as "pretenders"
"Anthony had not only been the spark at the top of the lineup with a .396 OBP but was starting to tap into his power in August, hitting .317/.400/.561 with six home runs in 21 games before the injury. Now, the Red Sox will not only have to hold on to a playoff spot without him, but they will probably need to win at least a postseason series or two without him," Schoenfield wrote.
That's a fair assessment of things, though Schoenfield does also acknowledge improved performances from Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello — and the brilliant work of Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock — as other factors in the Red Sox's second half surge.
There's no denying how important Anthony is to the lineup, especially with Alex Bregman going through a slump, but his absence doesn't have to doom Boston's playoff chances.
WIlyer Abreu's return would go a long way in making up for Anthony's injury on both offense and defense, and sustained hot streaks from Trevor Story (.998 OPS in his last 50 at-bats) and Carlos Narváez (.281/.324/.563 in his last 10 games) would give some serious depth to Cora's lineup.
Some good news about all of this? Anthony's recovery timeline of four-to-six weeks means he could be available as soon as the American League Division Series. With the Red Sox now lagging only three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East (and the best record in the Junior Circuit), there's a chance the team could avoid playing any October baseball without their rookie phenom.