Roman Anthony is getting closer to rejoining the Boston Red Sox after the first significant injury of his young career.
The highly regarded outfielder, who has long been viewed as a cornerstone of the franchise’s future, has progressed through a rehab assignment that began in Double-A and has now reached Triple-A Worcester.
After three starts with the Portland Sea Dogs, Anthony joined the WooSox on Wednesday for his fourth rehab outing. Speaking before that game, he offered the most encouraging update yet on his recovery.
He acknowledged he does not have a flight booked back to the major league club but said he feels good and believes a return as soon as Friday remains possible.
That would put him in the lineup for the opener of a high-stakes four-game series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
The timing is notable. The Red Sox are currently wrapping up a series against the Miami Marlins, Anthony’s hometown team. Growing up in West Palm Beach and attending games at the ballpark that is now loanDepot park, he said he could have been ready to play in that series.
Instead, the organization has been measured with his ramp-up after the May injury that interrupted his second big-league season.
Anthony’s 2026 numbers before he went down reflected the growing pains of a young player still adjusting to major league pitching.
In 30 games and 109 at-bats he hit .229 with 25 hits, 12 runs scored, a .321 slugging percentage and a .675 OPS. Those figures fell short of the expectations that followed him into the year after a strong performance for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
Even so, the Red Sox have treated him as a long-term piece. His combination of size, athleticism and left-handed bat made him one of the game’s top prospects before his 2025 debut, and the club has shown patience as he works his way back.
The rehab process has been methodical: first Portland, now Worcester, with the next step potentially Boston itself.
Whether Friday in New York actually happens will depend on how he feels after this latest start and how the medical staff evaluates him.
Anthony’s own comments suggest he is nearing the point where the decision becomes more about readiness than recovery. For a Red Sox team that has missed his presence in the outfield, that possibility arrives at an important moment in the schedule.
If he does return this weekend, it would mark the end of a lengthy absence and the beginning of the next chapter in what the organization still hopes will be a lengthy career in Boston.
