Red Sox’s Roman Anthony gets pivotal injury update

The Boston Red Sox hold a one game lead over the competition for the American League’s second Wild Card spot with their 85-71 record. However, if the Red Sox do punch their ticket to the postseason, they could be competing without a key rookie.

Outfielder Roman Anthony was placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain in early September. While there has been some progress, Anthony doesn’t seem close to making his return anytime soon. Chief Baseball Officer Craig Beslow painted an overall gloomy picture on Anthony’s status, via Ian Browne of MLB.com.

“Yeah, but just like being around him a little bit, you can see he’s getting more comfortable. When it first happened, you could look at him and tell that he was in quite a bit of discomfort and pain,” Breslow said. “That has subsided, but there’s still quite a bit of room to get to in terms of baseball activity.”

Before going down with injury, Anthony was in the midst of a standout rookie campaign. Over 71 games, he was hitting .292 with eight home runs, 32 RBIs and four stolen bases. Despite missing so much time, Anthony still ranks second on the Red Sox in batting average amongst players with at least 100 plate appearances. Furthermore, his 3.1 WAR is sixth-highest on the team.

If Boston were to make the playoffs, they obviously want to go as far as possible. However, they don’t want to risk Anthony injuring himself even further in the process. For as good as he has been as a rookie, Anthony is the future in Boston. They’ll want his oblique fully healed before he returns to the diamond.