Roman Anthony is 20 years old. He's the poster child for Boston's future seasons. Considered a top prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft, he was selected 79th overall by the Boston Red Sox. He slugged in the minors, batting .285 with 42 HRs and 170 RBIs. This performance earned him the #1 overall prospect in baseball. However, ever since his call-up in early June, he has really struggled to get anything going.
So far, he's batting .114 in the 15 games he's played this season, with a very low OPS and slugging percentage as well (.518 OPS & SLG .227). However, he leads the team in walk rates and has one of the lowest strikeout rates. This shows that he's putting up quality at-bats, but he just hasn't seen any results yet. It happens with young prospects. Unfortunately, they're not going to be like Ken Griffey Jr. or Barry Bonds, who made immediate impacts with the team.
Roman Anthony's Struggles Hurting His Red Sox Reputation Ahead of All-Star Break
In fact, he's hurt himself with his pre-All-Star efforts, though it's still possible that he turns things around.
For local Boston fans, even David Ortiz or Nomar Garciaparra were never big impact players until a bit later. Let's reiterate that Roman is only 20 years old. Marcelo Mayer has only been doing slightly better because he's 22, playing in the minors since he was 18. Roman has only played in the minors for two years, which is a lot of baseball left.
Given the fact that Anthony has only played two years in the minors and is still called up to the bigs, this young man shows how special this kid truly can be. It just has to come together, and he just needs to lift the ball a bit more. With a few tweaks, he'll surely get out of it and break out soon. It could be just as soon as this season if everything pans out right for him.