Red Sox promote top prospect Anthony
It's the call that all of New England has been waiting for.
The Boston Red Sox have promoted outfielder Roman Anthony - baseball's consensus No. 1 prospect - to the majors, they announced Monday.
Anthony will make his big-league debut on Monday batting fifth and playing right field against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. His presence also saw Kristian Campbell slide from center field to second base and Ceddanne Rafaela from right to center, while Jarren Duran will man left.
Boston also placed outfielder Wilyer Abreu on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain in a corresponding move. To clear a 40-man roster spot for Anthony, first baseman/outfielder Ryan Noda was designated for assignment.
Anthony himself confirmed the call-up as he drove out of Worcester, Massachusetts, before the news broke officially. He arrived at Polar Park ready to board the WooSox bus for a road trip to Lehigh Valley, only to find himself being redirected east to Boston.
Roman Anthony, the top prospect in baseball, has been called up to the Red Sox. From the man himself. pic.twitter.com/VwP5uBzyU4
— Katie Morrison-O'Day (@KatieMo61) June 9, 2025
"He (Worcester manager Chad Tracy) sent us a message and said, 'Hey, we're gonna delay the bus. Something might be going on at the top.' Didn't really think anything of it," Anthony said after arriving at Fenway, according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo. "Was waiting around in the food room with a few of the guys. Then all of the sudden, he came out and said, 'You're going to the big leagues.' From there on out, it has been a little bit of a blur.
"But it was amazing. You dream of that every single day. To finally hear it was awesome."
The 21-year-old hit .288/.423/.491 with 10 homers, 29 RBIs, and an International League-leading 51 walks over 58 games in Triple-A this season. Calls for his promotion - already mounting in the face of the Red Sox struggles - grew to a fever pitch Saturday after he demolished a 497-foot grand slam at Worcester's Polar Park.
(Video source: MLB.com)
His promotion reunites Anthony with fellow top prospects Campbell and Marcelo Mayer in Beantown. Campbell made the Red Sox out of spring training and signed an eight-year, $60-million extension five games into his career, while Mayer earned his call-up last month after Alex Bregman's injury.
"It has been a long time coming," Mayer told MassLive's Cotillo, Lauren Campbell, Christopher Smith, and Katie Morrison-O'Day. "It has been talked about for a very long time. It's kind of crazy today's the day we're all going to share the field together in the big leagues. I'm super excited. I think we have a really good team, and he's just another addition."
Boston is hoping the three youngsters can help snap the team out of its ongoing funk. Despite taking a series from the rival Yankees in New York over the weekend, the team enters Monday having dropped nine of 14 to fall 8 1/2 games out of first in the AL East.
The team is also missing four key members of its lineup with Bregman, first baseman Triston Casas, outfielder/DH Masataka Yoshida, and now Abreu on the IL. Cora said that Abreu's side issue emerged Monday afternoon, and it was felt he could use some extra days to recover, according to Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald.
The Red Sox also selected right-hander Brian Van Belle from Triple-A and DFA'd reliever Robert Stock before Monday's game.