‘It’s just baseball, baseball, baseball’ – Boston Herald

Outfielder Roman Anthony is the No. 1 prospect in baseball, but since June 20, he’d served as Red Sox designated hitter six times in his last nine games, including four of the last five.

It’s quite an adjustment for someone whose minor league DH experience amounted to 14 games – also all this year – and for an entirely different reason.

“In Triple-A, I DH’ed for about a week and a half when I was going through some shoulder stuff,” Anthony told the Herald.

He’s healthy now, but the outfield is crowded with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Rob Refsnyder. Duran is the team’s leadoff man and offers serious speed, Rafaela is a defensive standout and is having the best offensive season of his three-year career by far, and Wilyer Abreu is the reigning American League Gold Glover in right field and leads the team with 16 home runs. Refsnyder considered retiring at the end of last season, before the Red Sox picked up his club option. His age-34 season has been stupendous: through 36 games he’s slashing .278/.368/.500 with 25 hits, five doubles, five homers, 15 runs, 14 RBI, 13 walks, and 30 strikeouts. Already this year, he’s accumulated 0.9 Wins Above Replacement.

The Red Sox are also trying to get back over .500, and manager Alex Cora is trying to balance the development of his dazzling rookie talent, which can come with growing pains, and the urgency to get back in the Wild Card race before it’s too late.

“It’s hard, because JD is a good one in left field, Ceddanne is the best defensive centerfielder in the big leagues, and our right fielder, he’s a Gold Glover,” Cora said Tuesday. “We’ll figure it out. Obviously, taking care of (Anthony) too, because I don’t want to make him a DH right away. He needs reps in the outfield… He has made some great plays in right field.”

Anthony, who conducts himself with a maturity beyond his 21 years, is not only happy to cede outfield time, but grateful for the chance to expand his repertoire.

“I’m honestly thankful for it,” he said of the DH games in Triple-A, “because during that time I was able to kind of lock in a routine and know how to set up my day and set up my work… For me right now, if DH’ing however many times is what’s best to put us in a position to win, I’m fully in on that.

“The way I look at it is, any position, whether it’s right, left, center, DH, wherever it is that I can get experience at this level, I think it is so valuable. I wasn’t playing a whole lot of right in the minors, and now DH’ing, I think it’s all super valuable. I think you learn so much about yourself, and about what you have to do in order to stay ready and to be able to move around and help the team… They’re valuable lessons to learn early on in your career. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to go through that, and as a rookie.”

While Anthony would welcome an extension, or even overtures from the Red Sox, he’s grateful there haven’t been talks “at all” just yet.

“Credit to them,” he said of the front office. “They’ve done a great job in letting me be free and play. I think if that’s a topic of discussion, it’ll be probably toward the end of the year or maybe going into the offseason, if that’s something they’re interested in, but for me right now it’s just baseball, baseball, baseball.

“The goal here was pretty clear when they called me up. It’s ‘Hey, you ready to give this team a chance to help win games?’ That’s what I’m here for right now. But obviously, I’ve said it before, I love being here. I was drafted, I came up with this org, and if I could be here for an extended period of time and it worked out on both sides, that’d be fantastic. I love Boston, I love the fan base, everything that I’ve experienced so far has been great.

“I think any time you’re experiencing something like that, it’s a blessing that the team is so invested in you. So if we get there, great. If not, I’m going to do everything I can and just continue to help this team and do my thing here now. I don’t worry about the money, or whatever it is until they bring it up, if they do.”

Back to the job. DH and defensive days aren’t “a whole lot different,” Anthony said. He puts in the same pregame outfield work with coach Kyle Hudson.

“I’m an outfielder and I’m going to play the outfield, so I’ve still got to get my work in and take full advantage of batting practice and my reps and things like that on the defensive side,” he said. “The only difference is just the game, going into the cage and analyzing from at-bat to at-bat, looking at the way these guys are pitching me, knowing who we’ve got in the bullpen, our potential matchups.

“Just all things like that so that way nothing ever really speeds up. For me, it shouldn’t, as a DH; your one job is to go out there and to be ready to face that guy on the mound, whoever it may be that day.”

Having extra time to pick Alex Bregman’s brain has helped, too. The seasoned infielder, sidelined due to a quad strain in late May, is devoting a significant portion of his time to helping Anthony and fellow top prospect Marcelo Mayer.

“(I’m) talking with Bregman a lot,” said Anthony, launching into a rave review of his teammate and mentor. “It’s amazing. He’s like another coach, almost, it’s crazy. He cares so much.

“He’s such a winner, and he studies so much and not just himself, he’s looking at everybody and trying to find ways to help everybody and give feedback to everybody every single day. He lives in that video room, and he’s helped me and Marcelo a lot. He’s introduced us to a lot of the game-planning stuff that he does. You know, I don’t think there’s a better guy in baseball that I’ve met.

“He’s been amazing. He’s been amazing to the whole team. Every day he comes in with something new and he’s got something for us every single day. As a rookie, and for me and Marcelo, and the young guys, we’re so thankful for him. He doesn’t have to come here, especially being injured, all the success he’s already had, he doesn’t have to do any of that (for us) but he does. And that’s just a reflection of who he is. He’s a gamer. He’s awesome.”

The first week of Anthony’s big-league career, he spent time with one of the greatest DHs in baseball history, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the most clutch hitter in Red Sox history.

Guess who.

“I got to talk with him a little bit my debut week,” the rookie said of David Ortiz. “He was in the dugout, and he actually spoke with my family a little bit. They loved it. (He’s) another guy who doesn’t have to do all that. He’s been awesome with me every time I’ve seen him.”

With his hard work, guidance from Bregman and other teammates, coaches, and Big Papi, Anthony is adjusting quickly. After slashing .097/.222/.448 over the first 10 games of his big-league career, he hit .323/.432/.452 over his remaining nine games in June. Entering Wednesday’s series finale with the Reds, Anthony’s nine hits over the last seven days led AL rookies (tied for the MLB rookie lead). His five doubles and eight walks over the last 15 days lead AL rookies as well.