The Boston Red Sox didn't exactly set Roman Anthony up for success in the wake of his hand injury. They initially thought the young outfielder could avoid the injured list with just a day or two of rest, but Anthony hasn't played in a game since May 4.
Over a month later, he hasn't made much progress. Anthony is still sporting a brace on his ailing hand isn't yet swinging a bat as of June 10. Boston's offense is still struggling severely and fans are looking everywhere to place blame — Anthony's recovery timeline is a top target.
A June 9 tweet from the Pesky Podcast had some Sox fans up in arms. The hosts claimed to speak with someone familiar with Anthony's recovery situation and posted that "Driveline had him doing dry swings daily" while he was supposed to be resting his hand. They claim that the premature swinging allegedly worsened his injury and he still has weeks of recovery ahead of him, plus a rehab assignment, specifically in Portland.
Red Sox color analyst Lou Merloni took umbrage with the podcast's statement. He didn't mince words in his response tweet: "Normally I would not comment on something like this but c'mon. It's just not true."
Wild Roman Anthony-Driveline rumor has Red Sox fans losing it on social media
Red Sox fans likely took the Driveline explanation and ran with it because it's become a common enemy. Even Theo Epstein is dissatisfied with Craig Breslow's over-reliance on analytics in his decision making process. But there's just no way Driveline is making rehab decisions when the Red Sox have a medical staff of their own, no matter how incompetent fans think they might be.
It doesn't help that Boston was initially dishonest about the nature of Anthony's injury. The initial diagnosis of a one-day rest period could've really been a fluke, but the team later mischaracterized his injury publicly. It started as a wrist sprain, then became a fourth-finger ligament strain, then Sam Kennedy denied that Anthony has a torn ligament, which the outfielder quickly refuted. Boston bungled all the reports on Anthony's injury, — and fans are still trying to figure out who the deception served — but it wouldn't trust unqualified individuals with their players' health because it burns more money every day Anthony doesn't play.
Much drama has escaped the Red Sox's front office this season and any news that a third-party player development company was making medical decisions for future stars probably would've come out by now. The Pesky Podcast didn't list a source for their information, which isn't to say that they're being purposely deceptive, as they probably trust their source, but their claim is, as of now, unsubstantiated.
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