Roman Anthony’s Wrist Injury Leaves the Red Sox With a Bigger Problem Than One Series
Boston’s best young hitter left a playoff game and did not come back, and the organization now has to decide whether to cut into his wrist.
Roman Anthony, 22, exited Game 1 of the Wild Card Series and was diagnosed with muscle damage. He was ruled out for the remainder of the series with wrist injuries, and Curtis Mead replaced him on the roster.
He Took It Hard
“I feel sick to my stomach. Haven’t slept much. It doesn’t feel real,” Anthony said.
That is a 22-year-old who waited his whole career for one October and lost it in the first game.
The Season Was Already a Fight
Anthony played only 55 games in 2026 because of a right hand and wrist injury. Boston now has to determine whether surgery is required.
Fifty-five games from a player projected as a middle-of-the-order fixture is a lost season no matter how the at-bats looked. Wrist injuries are the quiet killers of young hitters, because a wrist that is not right robs bat speed without ever appearing on an injury report.
Boston’s Offense Collapsed Around Him
The Red Sox finished 87-75, down from 89-73, and fell from seventh in baseball in runs scored to 23rd. They hit 163 home runs, the fifth-fewest in the majors.
That drop is the entire story of Boston’s season. The pitching held up well enough to reach the postseason. The lineup did not score.
The Winter Shopping List Already Failed Once
Boston acquired Willson Contreras, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Adley Rutschman and finished 23rd in runs. That is a lot of acquisition for a team that got worse offensively.
Gray, 37, is noncommittal about continuing. “I’m going to take today for today, take tomorrow for tomorrow,” he said. A pitcher that age talking in day-to-day terms in early October is a pitcher thinking about whether he wants another season.
The Manager Situation Is Murky
Reporting on Boston’s managerial timeline conflicts. One account says Alex Cora was fired after a 10-17 start and that Boston then went 32-5 in late June. Another places the firing on April 25, with Chad Tracy managing the Wild Card Series.
The dates have not been independently confirmed, and Tracy’s job status for 2027 has not been announced.
What Boston Actually Needs
Health, first. A full season from Anthony changes this lineup more than any free agent Boston could sign, because a 22-year-old who can hit is worth more than a 32-year-old who used to.
Whether he needs surgery remains undecided. That decision is the most consequential thing on Boston’s calendar this month, and it has nothing to do with the roster moves everyone will spend the winter debating.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
