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 at the top of the order, hitting in his final 27 games there before suffering an oblique injury on Sept. 2 that ended his season, Cora was non-committal in the early stages of camp when it came to who would hit first.
“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.”
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.
