Rival Scout Says What Red Sox Fans Are All Thinking About Roman Anthony Saga

No one should reasonably expect Roman Anthony to be the savior of the 2025 Boston Red Sox. But he's also proven time and again he deserves a spot in the lineup.

Anthony, 21, is the consensus number-one prospect in all of Minor League Baseball. He has absolutely shredded Triple-A competition, with a .329/.456/.524 slash line in 84 games dating back to last August.

Most teams would look at a prospect like that and consider it a no-brainer to call him up for his first major league experience. But with three quality starting outfielders on their active roster already, the Red Sox aren't most teams.

Still, Anthony's two fellow preseason top prospects have already graduated to the big-league club (Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer). And now that they're on a five-game losing streak and might be without superstar Alex Bregman for a couple of months, the Red Sox desperately need something to spark their offense.

It's not only fans who can't wrap their heads around the Red Sox's treatment of Anthony. MassLive's Chris Cotillo heard from a rival talent evaluator on Wednesday who seemed perplexed that Anthony is still in the minors.

"A longtime AL evaluator on the Roman Anthony situation: 'Makes zero sense to me,'" Cotillo posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow hinted Wednesday that there were still things the Red Sox wanted to see from Anthony, but cherry-picking his flaws when the big-league lineup can't buy a clutch hit with runners on base won't move the needle for critics.

The real kicker is Anthony's service time. The Red Sox, whether they admit it or not, are scared to lose a year of control if he comes up early enough in the year to place in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting. With 104 games left on the schedule, it would be unlikely, not impossible.

Still, with the public pressure only escalating by the minute, it would be no surprise to see Anthony get his call-up any day now.