Red Sox's No. 1 Prospect Roman Anthony Lost 10 Pounds Due To Illness, Per Insider

It's not entirely clear what sort of virus has swept through the Boston Red Sox's clubhouse throughout the past week, but it doesn't sound fun.

On Wednesday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora named five Boston players who had been impacted by the illness and would be unavailable for games until further notice: Triston Casas, Romy González, Seby Zavala, Roman Anthony, and Marcelo Mayer.

The illness has hit some player harder than others. Cora said Friday that Casas was "MIA" and his roommate, Vaughn Grissom, had told him the first baseman was in rough shape. Meanwhile, Mayer is already back in the Boston lineup on Saturday.

Anthony, however, has taken it on the chin. According to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, the young star outfielder lost at least 10 pounds due to the illness, and the team isn't yet sure when he'll return to game action.

"Roman Anthony is back but Cora said he lost 10-12 pounds this past week from illness," McCaffrey wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "He’s in camp but won’t be in games the next few days, Monday is an off day so perhaps back on Tuesday."

"Cora said Anthony's job the next few days is to eat," McCaffrey continued.

Anthony, 20, is the consensus number-one prospect in the Red Sox organization, and some sites have him as the top prospect in all of baseball. He came into camp with an outside shot at the Opening Day roster, though the Red Sox's outfield depth made that a tricky proposition from the start.

Before the illness, though, Anthony was having a great showing in camp. He went 4-for-13 at the plate with a double, four walks, and a hit-by-pitch, good for a small-sample OPS of .885.

Every factor has to be taken into consideration when deciding when to promote a top prospect, and that's especially true for a team like the Red Sox, who expect to be in playoff contention in 2025 after a banner offseason.

Hopefully, Anthony's illness doesn't have any longer-lasting implications. The Red Sox need to be certain their young star is at full physical capacity before exposing him to the pressures of big-league competition.