Roman Anthony’s eye-opening production at the World Baseball Classic has Boston Red Sox fans elated, but some can’t help but wonder why the Red Sox took so long to promote Anthony last season.
Boston waited until June 9 to send Anthony to the bigs, but the Red Sox had no issue with calling up lesser prospects — Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer — sooner than Anthony. Campbell made the 2025 Opening Day roster, and Mayer made his MLB debut on May 24.
It’s worth noting that Mayer’s call-up came as a result of an injury to Alex Bregman. But in Campbell’s case, the Red Sox had no urgent reason to throw the youngster into the MLB fire. Boston simply felt that Campbell, 22 at the time, was ready to operate as a much-needed right-handed bat in the Red Sox lineup. He wasn't.
After a torrid first month, Campbell completely fell off at the plate as major league pitchers adjusted to him. Campbell’s struggles were partially a result of the Red Sox yanking him around the diamond defensively (a lesson the Red Sox might not have learned from), but on the whole, it was clear that Campbell simply wasn’t prepared to thrive at the highest level. He’d been promoted too early, and Campbell’s current status — on the outside of the MLB roster looking in — only reinforces that fact.
Red Sox mismanaged promotions of Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell in 2025
Reminder that the Red Sox promoted Kristian Campbell before Marcelo Mayer, and Mayer before Roman Anthony last season.
— Colin Keane (@ColinKeane_) March 16, 2026
100% backwards.
& yes, I realize Mayer came up b/c Bregman got hurt. But Anthony should have already been up by then. pic.twitter.com/teAOZ5eKUt
Anthony’s development, meanwhile, manifested in opposite fashion. Unlike Campbell, Anthony struggled out of the gate against MLB pitching, and unlike Campbell, Anthony emerged as an obvious star bat after just a few weeks. Campbell was promoted too early; Anthony, too late.
How different might Boston’s 2025 season have gone if Anthony — not Campbell — had been on the Opening Day roster? The Red Sox would’ve benefited from more than just 71 games of Anthony’s elite bat, and perhaps in this alternate universe, Anthony wouldn’t have gotten injured.
Okay, the injury speculation is a massive stretch, but the point is this: Boston did everything backwards in 2025 with its decisions on Anthony, Mayer, and Campbell. This has only become more obvious as we’ve watched Anthony shine on the WBC stage.
The idea that Anthony wouldn’t have been able to handle the pressure of a full season in 2025 now looks more indefensible than ever. Boston’s leadership (Alex Cora included) often describes Anthony as mature beyond his years, and indeed, Anthony’s looked unflappable in huge moments, most recently in the WBC. Craig Breslow’s made comments suggesting that Anthony is ready to handle the pressure of spearheading Boston's lineup.
All of this paints the picture of a 21-year-old the Red Sox are treating like a 28-year-old. That’s all good and fair, but where was this energy a calendar year ago in handling Anthony’s development? It would’ve made for a much better 2025 Red Sox season.