How Red Sox's Roman Anthony Is Like Juan Soto, Mike Trout

The Boston Red Sox have one of the most intriguing overall outfielders in baseball in young slugger Roman Anthony.

He became a national sensation in 2025. Anthony -- who skyrocketed and was the No. 1 overall prospect in the game at one point -- was promoted and made his big league debut on June 9th. From there on, Anthony would appear in 71 games and slashed .292/.396/.463 with eight homers, 32 RBIs, four stolen bases, 40 walks, 18 doubles, and 48 runs scored.

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Anthony quickly looked not only like the best rookie in baseball, but one of the better players in the game in general. Unfortunately, his season was cut short due to injury, but the fanbase should be very excited about him heading into 2026. On Monday, ESPN's David Schoenfield pinpointed one stat from each American League team that would "make or break" the season. For Boston, it was Anthony's 13.2 percent walk rate and Schoenfield pointed out that number would put him on pace with guys like Juan Soto and Mike Trout.

The Red Sox have a star

"The number: 13.2 percent," Schoenfield wrote. "That's Roman Anthony's walk rate as a 21-year-old rookie, as he hit an impressive .292/.396/.463 in 71 games in 2025 before going down with an oblique strain in early September -- right as he was figuring things out in the power department, hitting six home runs in 26 games in August after hitting just two in 43 games prior to that. It's that walk rate that stands out, though, as Anthony's keen eye at the plate bodes well for his future. Since 2000, only four players have had a better walk rate at age 21 or younger -- Juan Soto, Mike Trout, Jason Heyward and Adam Dunn. Just behind Anthony on that list are Justin Upton, Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton. Four of those players have won MVP awards and the fifth -- Soto -- is one of the best hitters in the game.

"If that list isn't enough to get Boston fans pumped up, Anthony's hard-hit rate -- balls hit at 95-plus mph -- was 60.3 percent, which ranked as the highest percentage in the majors among players with at least 100 batted balls, just ahead of Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. That's pretty good company also. Once Anthony learns to hit the ball in the air more often, which he appeared to be doing in August before his season-ending injury, watch out. He should be even better as a sophomore -- and that means the Red Sox should be better."

Anthony had just a small taste of the action in the majors, but he showed that he can be a superstar. If that turns out to be the case in 2026, expect the Red Sox to make some noise in the AL.

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