How Jackson Holliday's struggles are preparing Red Sox's Roman Anthony for big leagues

With spring training at its halfway point, the Boston Red Sox are aiming to turn the page heading into the 2025 season. They are looking to get back to competing and hope their group of top prospects can help usher in a new era of winning baseball at Fenway Park.

Among this group is outfielder Roman Anthony, who hopes to learn from the struggles of Baltimore Orioles’ infielder Jackson Holliday, whose rookie season was an emotional roller coaster.

“He was so good in the minor leagues and never really struggled, and people were like, wait, why is he struggling?” Anthony said via The Athletic. “This is a failure game, right? So, (Holliday’s experience is) really just putting things into perspective and not having expectations for myself.”

Anthony has faced adversity before in his baseball career, but he has not had to go through struggles in front of the Boston crowd yet.

“I’ve struggled before,” Anthony said. “Obviously, I don’t know what Boston’s like. I haven’t struggled up there. I know it’s going to be different than struggling in Portland. But it’s something that they do a good job here of kind of giving you a heads-up and (preparing you for).”

Anthony is expected to make his Major League debut in 2025. The Red Sox are hoping to avoid injuries and have the best season possible in 2025.

Red Sox’s Lucas Giolito opens up on injury

How Jackson Holliday's struggles are preparing Red Sox's Roman Anthony for big leagues — Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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After being inactive for the 2024 season, pitcher Lucas Giolito is expected to be a part of the Boston Red Sox’s rotation this season. Those plans might be delayed, however, as Giolito is now fighting another injury.

Giolito experienced a hamstring injury which should be nothing more than a minor setback.

“I’ve pulled my hamstring in my career a few times and it feels very minor,” said Giolito via MassLive. “That’s what (the training staff) is saying based on the initial testing. It’s just an annoying little setback, I guess.”

Although it is frustrating, Giolito is focusing on keeping a positive mindset while attempting to return as quickly as possible.

“You can’t have that attitude,” Giolito said. “It is what it is. Things happen, injuries happen. I wouldn’t even categorize this as an injury, really, at this point. It just felt like it got tight on me. We’ll do the protocol, get it looked at and it shouldn’t be too bad.”

Giolito is still expected to make an impact for the Red Sox this season.