There’s nothing teams and their fans fear more for young star players than injuries, and Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony suffered a poorly-timed one last September.
Anthony strained his oblique on an awkward swing in a Sep. 2 game against the Cleveland Guardians, and he missed the final month of the season, which concluded with an Oct. 2 playoff loss against the New York Yankees.
While Anthony’s injury probably decimated the Red Sox’s chances of going deep in October, fans might be surprised to learn that the experience could have had a silver lining for the 21-year-old.
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Anthony talks about increased preparation
Anthony recently told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey that his experience with injury prompted him to take his physical preparations for the grind of a 162-game more seriously, and the younger he learns those lessons, the better off he’ll likely be in the long run.
“It was kind of a blessing in disguise in a sense because now it’s understanding what you need to do to get your body ready,” he said, per McCaffrey. “The last few years, I could go out and just take the field and not really stretch as much.
“Over the course of 162, we have to be super responsible and super on top of everything, really trying to play 180 games and with that, you have to take care of your body, understand your diet, your sleep, the recovery side of things, the exercise and everything that goes into it.”
Specifically in regard to the oblique injury, Anthony reported that he changed up his warm-up routine to more vigorously rotate his obliques and lower back to reduce risk of future injury.
“When I go take my first swing, I’ve essentially already swung with the amount of rotating that I’ve done and the amount of force that I’ve used with different medicine balls and things that I’ve done in the training room,” he told McCaffrey. “All that stuff makes me feel more confident before I go out there and swing and play like I’m ready to go.”
Anthony’s swing involves a fairly abrupt braking action at the finish after a violent coil, so all of the emphasis on staying healthy is justified. If he plays 150-plus games a season, it’s hard to imagine he won’t soon be a top Most Valuable Player candidate.
