Red Sox rookie stays hot as teammates rave: ‘Yordan Alvarez, that’s my player comp’

BOSTON — Red Sox rookie sensation Roman Anthony found himself right in the middle of another big win over the Dodgers on Sunday. So much so, in fact, that two teammates with World Series rings offered lofty comps for the 21-year-old.

Anthony, after reaching base four times in Boston’s win over Los Angeles on Saturday night, changed the game Sunday afternoon when he made it a one-run game by scraping an RBI triple off the Green Monster in the bottom of the fifth. He then trotted home on Alex Bregman’s go-ahead homer that put the Red Sox ahead for good.

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Bregman was the hero for the second straight Sunday. But the two-time champion pointed to Anthony — who in the leadoff spot was hitting in front of him for the first time — as a game-changer.

“Roman has been awesome,” said Bregman, unsolicited. “Four times on base last night, gets on his first at-bat today and then hits a big triple. He’s doing it. He’s going to be a special, special player. It’s definitely fun hitting in front of or behind him in this lineup. It reminds me of earlier in my career when Yordan Alvarez got called up. That’s my player comp for him.”

A comparison to Alvarez, of course, offers high praise, as the Astros slugger has been named to three All-Star teams, won the Rookie of the Year award and received MVP votes in three seasons since debuting in 2019. Starter Walker Buehler said Anthony reminds him of Dodgers slugger Max Muncy because of his big body and plate discipline. The right-hander also referenced two other former Dodgers stars in discussing Anthony.

“I think he’s going to be one of the best players in the big leagues very, very soon,” Buehler said. “Personally, I think his brain and obviously the physical stuff everyone can see. But who he is as a person, I think is pretty special. I’ve been around some really good ones. I’ve been around Corey (Seager) and Cody (Bellinger) and seen how those guys progressed through the first couple years of their career. He’s definitely cut from that cloth.”

Anthony arrived in the majors with sky-high expectations when he debuted against the Rays on June 9. He started 5-for-44 (.114) with a .518 OPS in his first 15 games, but the Red Sox were just waiting for the rookie’s stat line to catch up with his strong approach and hard-hit rate. It has — in a big way. In 32 games since June 18, Anthony has the fourth-best on-base percentage (.433) in baseball. He’s hitting .309 with 12 doubles, a triple (Sunday’s) and an .897 OPS in that span despite hitting only one homer.

“I just don’t think we’ve seen him super comfortable in terms of getting the A-swing off a ton,” said Buehler. “Swing percentage is super, super low and he walks and does all these underlying things. Once it’s time and he starts getting his big swing off on pitches he knows is coming, I think special things are gonna happen.”

Beyond keying Sunday’s rally, Sunday represented an eventful afternoon for Anthony. For the first time in the majors, he led off, trading places in the lineup with Jarren Duran, who hit third. In his first at-bat, he was hit in the foot by a Dustin May pitch, then scored on a Trevor Story sacrifice fly. That pain lingered all day, necessitating a visit from Alex Cora and a trainer after the triple.

“He grinded through it,” said Cora. “He’s learned the last nine games. Being sick in Chicago and you have to post. Today, he got hit right away. It was tight but he grinded through it. That’s what big leaguers do.”

Anthony’s big weekend comes just days after perhaps his worst 48-hour stretch as a big leaguer. Facing star pitchers Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez, he became the first Red Sox player ever to strike out four times in back-to-back games. He was out of the lineup Wednesday after a stretch in which he went 3-for-16 with 11 strikeouts in a four-game span.

“It was just moreso that I didn’t do a good job of adjusting in Philly,” Anthony said Sunday. I”t was simple. I was obviously working on a few things and grinding out a few things with Breg and the guys in the cage. At the same time, things like that can’t happen. I say they can’t happen, but they will happen.

“Knowing the type of hitter I am, type of player I am, I’d match myself up with anyone on any given day. So we’ll give that to those guys and move on.”

Anthony entered as a pinch-hitter in Wednesday’s wacky game and doubled in the 11th inning. That swing — his first of three extra-base hits in his next four games — helped turn things around.

“From there, I was like, ‘Hey, screw it.’ These last two days were a learning lesson. Those are the kind of arms you see in the playoffs. Those are the kind of arms you see from the best team. Understanding that, taking that with me and kind of just putting it in my back pocket and moving on was huge.”

Though Anthony’s swing mechanics were a bit off, his teammates and coaches never worried. Cora scoffed at a question about Anthony needing to make adjustments late Tuesday.

“He’s going to go through stretches,” the manager said after Sunday’s win. “He faced Wheeler and Sánchez back-to-back days. They’re really good at what they do. He didn’t get exposed. He just got beat. There’s a difference between getting beat in the big leagues and getting exposed.”

Cora, like Anthony’s teammates, has repeatedly raved about Anthony’s mature approach in everything he has done since being promoted. And Anthony is happy to take that praise, especially when a name like Alvarez is invoked.

“That’s a cool comp,” said Anthony. “(Alvarez) is a good hitter, so I’ll take it. I’ve actually talked with Alex a lot about Yordan and about some of the guys he’s played with. Just learning so much from Alex and guys that he’s been around. He’s a winner and he knows how to game-plan.”

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