Boston's Roman Anthony Reveals Exact Injury in Telling Update

Getting the specifics of Anthony's injury would not be nearly as significant if there hadn't been discourse building around potentially misleading reports from the Red Sox front office. On May 22nd, club president and CEO Sam Kennedy dismissed speculation that he had torn any ligaments, telling WEEI that "he's got a sprain in the ligament at the base of the ring finger, there's no evidence of the tear."

"The imaging is negative," Kennedy said. "There's been a second opinion to confirm that, but hand injuries are really tough for baseball players."

Earlier in the day on Thursday, Craig Breslow backed Kennedy in an appearance on WEEI saying that they are "trying to just be honest" when asked directly why the Red Sox continue to say that Anthony is just dealing with a sprain.

But as Anthony himself made clear, the injury is in fact slightly more significant than the club has let on. The update makes sense considering he has been out for over three weeks with no significant progress toward a return.

With Bradford, the young outfielder spoke more about where he is currently at in the rehab process and what his next steps will be moving forward.

"I am doing pretty much everything on the field baseball activity wise... the last little part of it is just the hitting part, which is the most taxing part to the hand obviously, so that was kind of the last box that we had to check off."

"We are officially at a point where I am swinging every day," Anthony said. "It's good to be in an everyday routine... so that way I can hopefully be back out there as soon as possible."

Anthony and the Red Sox remain hesitant to put any kind of timetable on his return. He mentioned that he felt optimistic about coming back during the Kansas City series on May 18th but realized after a setback in Atlanta a few days prior that he was still uncomfortable swinging the bat.

Manager Chad Tracy said on Wednesday that hitting off the tee would be next for Anthony, and that he will continue to be monitored on a day-to-day basis. Beyond that, it is difficult to forecast when he could be back, especially considering the recent history of setbacks and new update on the actual severity of the injury.