Minor League Baseball

Boston Red Sox Top Prospect Roman Anthony Returns After Battling Illness, Weight Loss

Roman Anthony, the top position player prospect in baseball, made his long-awaited return to the Boston Red Sox’s spring training camp on Saturday having lost 10 pounds.

Sam Connon

Lee County, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony (48) participates in media day at JetBlue Park at Fenway South.
Lee County, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony (48) participates in media day at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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The Boston Red Sox were hit hard by a stomach bug at spring training this week, but they seem to be on their way towards bouncing back.

Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer and Romy González were among the players who got sick, as was Roman Anthony. Manager Alex Cora told reporters Saturday that Anthony had returned to camp, albeit not in game shape.

The 20-year-old outfielder has apparently lost 10-to-12 pounds, per The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey. He will participate in baseball activities, but likely won’t appear in another Grapefruit League game until Tuesday.

Prior to falling ill, Anthony was batting .308 with an .885 OPS in spring training. He hit .291 with 18 home runs, 32 doubles, four triples, 65 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and an .894 OPS across 119 games in Double-A and Triple-A in 2024.

Anthony is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the sport by Baseball Prospectus, while Baseball America and MLB Pipeline have him slotted in at No. 2.

Related MiLB Stories

  • BOSTON TRIMS ROSTER: Outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and pitcher Luis Perales were among the Red Sox players sent to minor league camp. CLICK HERE
  • CAMPBELL LEARNING FROM CORA: On top of learning the ropes from Alex Bregman, top prospect Kristian Campbell is open to guidance from Red Sox manager Alex Cora. CLICK HERE
  • ISAAC, MORGAN TALK SPRING TRAINING: Two of the highest-rated first base prospects in baseball, Xavier Isaac and Tre' Morgan, are seemingly joined at the hip. CLICK HERE

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

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