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The Red Sox have promoted outfield prospect Roman Anthony from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, per the club’s minor-league transactions log.

Anthony, 19, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The Red Sox originally selected the Florida native in the second round of last year’s draft out of Stoneman Douglas High School. He forwent his commitment to Mississippi by signing with the club for $2.5 million.

In 42 games with Salem this season, Anthony batted .228/.376/.316 with nine doubles, one triple, one home run, 18 RBIs, 27 runs scored, 11 stolen bases, 38 walks, and 18 strikeouts over 202 plate appearances. While that slash line is far from eye-popping, the left-handed hitter has caught the attention of evaluators thanks in part to his under-the-hood numbers.

As highlighted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier last week, Anthony has a sound approach at the plate when it comes to pitch recognition and swing decisions. He has also shown that he can hit the ball hard, but his production in that regard has been weighed down by a 49.2 ground-ball rate this year. As such, he is working to put the ball in the air on a more frequent basis.

“He looks like he’s been in pro ball for multiple years versus a guy who’s getting his first full taste of full-season ball,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said of Anthony in a recent conversation with Speier. “If you can have those foundational areas as a hitter and you hit the ball hard, you’d like to think it will eventually lead to more baseball-card-type success versus some of the back-end numbers that he’s shown a lot of success with.”

On the other side of the ball, Anthony saw playing time at all three outfield positions for Sale. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder logged nine innings in left, 156 innings in center, and 127 innings in right. He committed just two errors in 61 defensive chances and recorded two outfield assists.

Anthony, who does not turn 20 until next May, becomes the latest member of Boston’s 2022 draft class to make the jump from Salem to Greenville this season, joining the likes of left-handers Dalton Rogers and Nathan Landry. With the Drive, Anthony will join a crowded outfield mix that already includes Max Ferguson, Miguel Ugueto, Bryan Gonzalez, Nick Decker, Eduardo Lopez, and Kier Meredith.

This article first appeared on Blogging the Red Sox and was syndicated with permission.

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