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Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony recorded his first career big-league hit on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays (GameTracker), just 24 hours after making his MLB debut. Anthony’s hit came with runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the first. He worked a 1-2 count against Rays starter Ryan Pepiot before taking a changeup the other way for a single and two runs batted in:
Anthony, 21, went 0 for 4 with a walk and strikeout in his debut. He also made a fielding error. Notably, Anthony was sporting a different jersey number in Tuesday’s game, having switched from No. 48 to No. 19 overnight.
“I wore (48) in spring, and wore 19 last year in Triple-A,” Anthony told reporters. “And then credit to [equipment manager Tom McLaughlin] and those guys, called me this morning and ‘Hey, we’re gonna be able to get you 19.’ So I was super thankful for that.”
No. 19 had previously been worn this season by veteran left-handed Sean Newcomb, who made 12 appearances with the Red Sox before being jettisoned in late May.
Anthony entered the season ranked by CBS Sports as the No. 1 prospect in the minors. Here’s what we wrote at the time:
Anthony has a lot working in his favor. He won’t celebrate his 21st birthday until the summer, yet he’s already authored an impressive 35-game stretch in Triple-A, during which he recorded a .983 OPS and a walk for every strikeout. His advanced metrics, including his 90th percentile exit velocity and his in-zone contact percentage, line up with those posted by James Wood and Junior Caminero; his chase rate, meanwhile, was superior to both. (Wood and Caminero subsequently hit well in the majors.) If there’s an area where Anthony could obviously stand to improve, it has to be with respect to pulling the ball in the air. He has immense raw strength, the kind that could eventually result in 30-plus homers annually; it’s eyebrow-raising, then, that he pulled just 4% of his Triple-A fly balls (the MLB average last season was over 9%). This ranking is a bet on Anthony’s youth and talent allowing him to figure out that component over the coming years. Even without it, he’s a high-quality prospect nearing arrival.
In 58 games at the Triple-A level, Anthony hit .288/.423/.491 with 10 home runs. Anthony’s promotion was precipitated by the Red Sox placing fellow outfielder Wilyer Abreu on the injured list with a strained oblique.