BOSTON -- A Roman Anthony turnaround will be crucial to the Red Sox's success this season.
Fortunately for them, the 21-year-old seems to be finding his rhythm again.
Anthony put on a show during the World Baseball Classic. He posted a .920 OPS, hit the eventual game-winning home run in the semifinals against the Dominican Republic and was one of just four players for Team USA to play in all seven games of the tournament.
Instead of riding that momentum into the regular season, Anthony hit just .208 with a .631 OPS through the end of April. He rolled over plenty of pitches to the right side and didn’t lift the ball often. What he did positively continue to do was get on base. Anthony has tremendous control of the strike zone and still maintained a .339 OBP to start the season, which keeps his manager’s hopes high for a turnaround.
“I think plainly put, when Roman's really, really going well, he's not swinging out of the zone, and he's driving the ball in the air,” Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said entering the series against the Astros. “He gets the ball in the air and drives it to the opposite gap, too. When he's not going as well, you might see a little bit more ground ball to the right side. So I think I've seen him make some really good swing decisions. I think I've seen some ground balls to the right side, so ... I know what it starts to look like when it starts to get good. We're working towards that.”
All the traits of a locked-in Anthony started to materialize at home against Houston. He tallied three hits in Friday night’s win for the first time since Opening Day in Cincinnati. On Saturday, he took another walk and slapped a single off the Green Monster in the fifth inning. This weekend showed more signs of a complete hitter than in quite some time.
“I think when anyone's right, you see that they have the ability to kind of use that other side with true backspin,” Anthony said Sunday morning. “And when a player has that and when he's constantly getting to that, I think that's when he knows he's in a good spot. So for me to see that, it's been great. Obviously, a lot of the results have not been that way lately. So to get back to that, it's been good. And again, we have that wall about 310 feet away. So it's good to do that and be able to have that.”
While new hitting voices surround Boston after Alex Cora and his staff were let go, Anthony had time to work and talk shop during the WBC with Team USA hitting coach Sean Casey, who spent time with the Red Sox in 2008. Casey acknowledged how many great Red Sox left-handers have busted out of slumps when they find ways to use the Green Monster to their advantage. Anthony agreed with that sentiment and keeps those conversations in mind.
“He was unbelievable to be around,” Anthony recalled. “And we talked a lot about it. Just for him watching my BP, seeing the way the first two to three rounds [went], maybe using that the other way, making sure that's kind of in the bag, in a sense, is huge. And we talked about Fenway. Obviously, he's got a ton of experience playing and is a great pure hitter. So getting to talk to him and talk to him about the wall.”
Anthony continued: “That was kind of one of the things he told me was, “Hey, you got that thing right there in your back pocket. You might as well just shoot it over there.’ And as it starts to warm up and get in the summer, I saw it last year, where you can really get beaten still and make your money over there off that wall.”
It’s undoubtedly an uphill climb for the Red Sox, who sat seven games under .500 and nine games out of the American League East lead entering play Sunday. Regardless of whether the standings change, this season remains pivotal for Anthony in his first full MLB campaign. The eve of a breakout should be encouraging for both his growth and Boston's offense.
“You saw a really good Roman last year for the last month and a half before he was hurt, and you know what it looks like as well,” Tracy added. “If we can get that guy, it's pretty special.”