NEW YORK – The news worsened for Red Sox outfielder/designated hitter Roman Anthony on Wednesday when he was taken off the roster for the remainder of the American League Wild Card Series against the Yankees after imaging back in Boston showed additional strains in his right wrist.
Curtis Mead, who fractured his left wrist in his second at-bat after his acquisition by the Red Sox on July 28, took Anthony’s roster spot.
The fact that Anthony was taken off the Wild Card Series roster means he would be ineligible to play in the AL Division Series against the Rays, should Boston advance.
“I feel sick to my stomach. I haven't slept much,” said Anthony. “It doesn't really feel real, to be honest. There's so many different emotions and feelings throughout the course of this rehab process this year that to kind of get to this same news again, and even worse, it's just like, I don't know. It's hard to have an answer to anything right now.”
Mead has turned a corner of late with his hitting progression, recently taking live batting practice. His ramp-up to postseason action was accelerated due to Anthony’s injury, and several others (Mickey Gasper, Masataka Yoshida and Romy Gonzalez) also being unavailable due to health reasons.
“There are times when you accelerate timelines and compress things,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “You still want to make sure you have the interests of the player and the team in mind. We’re not going to do anything that’s reckless or irresponsible, but medically, Curtis is cleared.”
Losing Anthony was tough timing for the Red Sox, who took a 9-0 loss in Game 1 of this best-of-three series. Sensing immediately it was more than a minor setback, the team hired a car to drive Anthony back to Boston after the game, and he had imaging taken on Wednesday morning.
“He is sore,” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “He was sent back last night after leaving the game. Sent him back to Boston for extra, additional imaging, which actually revealed some new strains to different muscles in his wrist, in addition to exacerbating the old [finger] injury. So it's not great.”
Anthony suffered his initial injury on a check-swing foul ball in Detroit on May 4. He had a partially torn tendon in a joint that connects his right ring finger to his wrist.
The sensation Anthony felt in his at-bats in Game 1 was familiar in a nauseating way.
“Basically the same thing that happened early on in the year in addition to other strains in a few muscles in other areas in the hand. So, to shorten it up, it's the same thing with more added on,” said Anthony. “Yeah. It’s brutal. It’s confusing. There’s a lot of different emotions going on that I don’t know. It’s tough to put into words, and I feel like I grinded all year throughout something to get to where I am right now and to get to play in a game last night. And for that to happen, it’s confusing and it sucks.”
The Red Sox were equally confused by the recurrence.
“As far as I know, the rehab and the return to play was the appropriate one,” said Breslow. “Last night in the game, he did something where things changed, things worsened and we need to take a fresh look at it.”
Other than feeling occasional “zingers” on swings since his return to action on Aug. 30, Anthony hadn’t felt anything close to the discomfort that took place in Game 1, when he exited the game in the sixth inning after striking out in his first two at-bats.
The best-case scenario is that rest and rehab help Anthony recover, and that surgery won’t be necessary.
“I think we're still trying to figure out exactly what happened and what the prognosis will be,” said Breslow. “It’s still so recent that we’re collecting information, and I'm sure we'll examine all of those things.”
The 22-year-old left-handed hitter has had mixed results since returning to action, slashing .262/.321/.476 with four homers and 10 RBIs in his final 103 regular-season at-bats.
“I’ve been experiencing some things with the swings and check swings over the past six weeks, and last night just felt a little more intense than past swings have and lingered a little bit longer than the ones that I had before, so it was super alarming,” Anthony said. “It got to a point where it was tough to grip a bat, so I knew this was similar to the one earlier on in the year, and that’s why we decided to go get imaging.”
And now, the Red Sox will try to win without Anthony, which they did earlier in the season, most notably during that 32-5 stretch from June 25-Aug. 8. For that to happen, players will have to heat up. Boston’s offense has been cold as a unit for weeks.
“I think he's a special talent. He's a special guy,” said Breslow. “Right now we're focused on making sure that we put ourselves in a position to win the game tonight and figure out everything that's going on with Roman's wrist. I think to talk beyond that is probably foolish at this point.”