The Red Sox needed a spark, and Roman Anthony just flipped the switch. The team dropped 9-6 to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, slipping to 75-64 on the season, but that rookie is the only reason the wild-card race feels even remotely alive. While the pitching staff fell apart and the defense couldn’t make a play, Anthony went 2 for 3 to push his hitting streak to three straight games. He has reached base in every single plate appearance since the club activated him from the injured list on Sunday. That’s not a fluke in a small sample; his swing is fully recovered and he’s locked in.
The Finger Is Fixed and the Power Is Back
Everyone fretted over that torn tendon in his right ring finger, but the data says the injury is ancient history. Anthony missed nearly four months because of the tear, which got misdiagnosed originally as a simple wrist issue. Doctors told him it would take three months to heal, and he stuck to that timeline perfectly. Since returning, he has tallied two doubles and a triple inside his six total hits. The ball Anthony struck hardest on Tuesday left the bat at 110.3 miles per hour, a number that proves his power has fully returned to his hands. Reports.com notes that kind of exit velocity removes any doubt about whether he is ready to carry the lineup.
Anthony isn’t just hitting the ball hard; he is hitting it consistently. In his first three games back, he logged two hits per contest, matching his longest streak from the full 2026 season. Before the injury shut him down in early May, he had three separate three-game streaks. Reaching that mark immediately upon returning shows that his timing and confidence are right where they need to be. The 22-year-old is doing exactly what the team needed him to do when they called him up from Worcester (where he was crushing it before the call-up).
A Leadoff Spot That Actually Works
The top of the order has been a mess all season, but Anthony fixed it in his first two games. The Red Sox had been cycling Jarren Duran, Nick Sogard, and Anthony Seigler through that leadoff spot, and the team carried a .685 OPS from there, which ranked 30th in all of MLB. That is a massive hole that no one else could fill. According to Over the Monster, Anthony has brought immediate stability to the leadoff spot and quickly showed how important his presence will be as the season winds down. He crushed a ball at 106.5 mph in the ninth inning on Monday to tie the game before scoring the run that made it 8-8.
If anyone else was up in that spot, the inning would have ended differently. His ability to start producing right away could make a major difference in the final month. Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu stand to gain most from batting behind him, currently holding 10th and 19th spots respectively in RBI since the All-Star Break. The strategy is simple: get them on, get them over, and get them in. Anthony is the perfect guy for the job, and his success makes the rest of the lineup look dangerous.
Time to Push for the Postseason
The Red Sox trail the New York Yankees by four games for the top American League wild-card spot, and the schedule ahead does not get easier. The cushion in the race has thinned, but Anthony’s performance gives the team a clear path forward. He has proven he can handle the pressure and deliver big hits when the game is on the line. The team must be very happy with the way things have lined up, and they should be. Anthony has finally started to show why everyone was so excited for him to arrive, and now it is time to stick around for a while. The next test comes against the Yankees this Friday, and if he keeps this pace, Boston might just steal that playoff spot.
