Red Sox's Alex Cora Has Hilarious Roman Anthony Quip After Monster Performance

Anthony raised his on-base percentage to .406 in 52 games since debuting in early June. His .451 slugging percentage is also at a season-high, and it should terrify opposing pitchers that he's beginning to hit the ball in the air.

If anyone should know how impressive the things Anthony is doing are, it's manager Alex Cora, who has been around him since spring training this year. And Cora not only appeared in awe of his rookie, but he had a self-deprecating barb about how he handled Anthony early on.

"His game plan is his game plan. His approach is his approach," Cora said (via Tyler Milliken on X). "If you don't throw it in the zone, he's not going to swing most of the time."

"We were joking, me and Ref (Rob Refsnyder), like 'Man, we pinch-hit for him in the first game of his career. Who was the dumba** who did that?"

Indeed, it was Refsnyder who pinch-hit for Anthony in the bottom of the 10th inning during his major league debut against the Tampa Bay Rays. Refsnyder walked, but Boston fell 10-8 in what was one of the more frustrating losses of the season to that point. The Red Sox were 32-36.

Boy, how much have things changed since then?

Anthony now has his eight-year, $130 million extension, and he's taken things to a new level since Cora started leading him off against right-handed pitchers. It was a bold decision, given Jarren Duran's previous success in the leadoff spot, but it has seemed to galvanize the team in all the right ways.

The Red Sox are going to be "Anthony's team" very soon, if they aren't already. Cora knows how lucky he is to have the youngster, and you can bet he'll be left in to take his at-bats in every important situation from here on out.