FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When the Red Sox open their season in Cincinnati on March 26, the first player to step into the batter’s box is all but certain to be Roman Anthony.
The emerging star outfielder, all of 21 years old, figures to be a focal point of the season for the Sox, so why not have him set the tone from the outset?
Though Anthony finished his rookie year primarily hitting leadoff in his final 27 games there before suffering an oblique injury on Sept. 2 that ended his season, manager Alex Cora was non-committal in the early stages of camp when it came to who would hit first.
On Saturday, the same day Anthony led off in the team’s 7-2 win in the Grapefruit League opener against the Twins, Cora ended whatever mystery might have remained.
“It’s great,” said Anthony. “I felt really comfortable in the leadoff spot last year but ultimately, I just want to do anything to help the team win, and if that's what [Cora] feels like gives us the best chance, then I'm all in.”
Why Anthony instead of, say, Jarren Duran?
“George Springer, Mookie Betts. They’ve done it before [as power hitters leading off], setting the tempo. Kyle Schwarber, too. It can be 1-0 very quick or it’s a quality at-bat," said Cora.
Anthony will relish the opportunity to impact his team from the first pitch of what will be his first full Major League season.
“It’s something for me that I take with a lot of pride, getting the boys going and trying to get on base,” Anthony said. “That first run is huge. I think anytime you're able to kind of do damage or strike [for] one early, it kind of changes the momentum of the game, and changes the energy, or the feel, at least, on our side. So it's a huge at-bat, not one that I ever take for granted. So I'm looking forward to it.”
Anthony is renowned for both his plate approach and his power, though the latter didn’t fully come out as he acclimated to Major League pitching. The left-handed hitter belted eight homers in 257 at-bats last season.
A significant jump wouldn’t be surprising for a player who hit a 497-foot grand slam for Triple-A Worcester two days before he was promoted to the Major Leagues.
After seeing most of his at-bats in the second and third spots of the order after his callup, Anthony took it to another level when he moved to first, putting together a batting line of .336/.439/.564 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 132 plate appearances.
The rest of the batting alignment is still coming into focus, though Cora previously said that new addition Willson Contreras will bat cleanup.
Masa’s last Grapefruit League game until …
Masataka Yoshida started Friday’s college exhibition against Northeastern in left field and again for Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Twins, but it will be quite a while before you see him again in Boston’s lineup.
After working out at Fenway South on Sunday morning, Yoshida will join Team Japan’s World Baseball Classic squad in Arizona.
Given defending champion Japan’s expected success in the tournament, Cora was realistic about when he will see Yoshida again, and he’s fine with it.
“Go defend your ... WBC title,” Cora said of Yoshida, who had 13 RBIs in the '23 Classic. “He's going to be fine. We’ve been there before with him. They really take it seriously in Japan, and honestly, I don't expect him here until like mid-March.”
The championship game is scheduled for March 17 in Miami.
Sox successful with first ABS challenge
Cora is encouraging his team to be aggressive early in games with ABS Challenge System to take advantage of the time his regulars are in the game. Contreras took that to heart when he challenged a pitch that was a touch outside in the lower portion of the strike zone in the top of the first inning. The call was overturned. Contreras avoided a strikeout with the overturn, but he wound up grounding to third.
“Willson, he did a good job there,” said Cora. “The thing is that there's a fine line between what we’re preaching [for the season] and what we want to do here. I was telling [game planning/run prevention coach Jason Varitek] that if we have two challenges left by the fifth inning, we didn't do our job. So just go ahead, and be aggressive early in the game.”