Roman Anthony was busy in the minor leagues when Boston visited the Bronx last time. And on June 7th, he smashed a 497-foot grand slam home run against the Rochester Red Wings, on the very night when Boston beat the Yankees 10-7. The 21-year-old rookie made his debut for the Red Sox just two days later against Tampa Bay as the youngest Red Sox player to make his debut since Rafael Devers. And recorded his first MLB hit the next day when he switched to number 19 from 48.

Now, after 59 games and with a batting average of .286 and an .852 OPS, he entered the Friday series against the Yankees. And his intro to baseball’s greatest rivalry was nothing short of spectacular as he delivered a game-tying single in the sixth and later sealed the win with a two-run moon shot in the ninth.

The bat was silent with 0-for-4 in the very next game. But in the third game, he bound back with two hits in 4 at-bats. Before the last game of the series, he hit .308 with a homer, five RBIs, and four runs scored. Do the numbers look like a first timer?

This prompted the Red Sox’s two-time All-Star Trevor Story to say, “He[Anthony] could potentially be the face of baseball.” 

The title currently belongs to a select few, like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. Everyone is aware of how premium those two players are. Ohtani may be the most talented human being who has played the sport, and Judge is the undisputed face of modern baseball with raw power. Putting Anthony’s name in the same row takes too much courage.

But thankfully, Anthony is already putting up numbers that belong in their company. As the NY Post noted after his recent extension, “Anthony’s .400 on-base percentage would rank second to just Aaron Judge’s .446 mark…. if the rookie had enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title.”

And Boston’s front office clearly agrees with this massive hype. The Red Sox gave him an eight-year, $130 million extension after he played in just 46 major league games. As ESPN’s Jorge Castillo wrote, the Red Sox see Anthony as the long-term cornerstone that even Rafael Devers never became. And this belief isn’t just based on his talent.

Maturity that defies his age

Veteran third baseman Alex Bregman was literally impressed when he said, “He is probably the most mature 21-year-old, baseball-wise, I have ever been around.” Bregman saw this maturity during a tough series in Philadelphia when Anthony felt exposed after striking out four times against Cristopher Sanchez.

Bregman pulled the rookie into the video room, studying the league’s best hitters. They identified a key mechanical flaw in his batting stance, and Anthony made the difficult adjustment to his hands immediately in the cages.

“It takes balls, bro. He’s got balls… the ability to want to be great, and since he wants to be great, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to take it to the next level,” Bregman said after that. The results were immediate. Anthony had a .560 OPS against lefties before the fix, and after that, that number became 1.176 against left-handed pitchers.

The Red Sox were 32-35 before he made his debut, and after that, they went an impressive 39-24. So, it will not be an exaggeration to say that Roman Anthony carries the hopes of the franchise in the same footsteps of Ted Williams, Pedro Martinez, and Big Papi David Ortiz. But the road is still long enough to cross that bar, what do you think?