We all know that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
If you want to build an empire, you need to give it the proper time to flourish. It all begins by laying down the first brick.
That’s why it’s time for the Red Sox to officially begin their Roman Empire by calling up super prospect Roman Anthony.
I'm officially calling for it.
— Gethin Coolbaugh (@GethinCoolbaugh) September 7, 2024
It's time for @RedSox to unleash the Roman Empire.
Call up Roman Anthony. #DirtyWater pic.twitter.com/4EiVaZgIhS
The reason to expedite Anthony’s promotion is twofold. The first, aforementioned reason is that it gives the franchise’s No. 2 prospect — who this week was also named the No. 2 prospect in the game by Baseball America — an extended ramp-up period to prepare for what’s expected to be his first big league season in 2025.
Anthony looked major league-ready to my eye from the very moment he stepped into the batter’s box and launched a double in his debut at-bat in Worcester. His numbers since have gone on to back that up: Anthony slashed .333/.414/.536 — good for a .950 OPS — with 28 hits, six doubles, one triple, three homers and 12 RBIs in his first 21 Triple-A games.
Overall, Anthony’s production in 105 minor league games this season has been impressive. An .876 OPS, 26 doubles, 61 walks, 18 homers and 57 RBIs? Very solid. They nearly mirror his output from his 2023 minor league season — an .869 OPS, 27 doubles, 86 walks, 14 homers and 64 RBIs. Looks ready to me…
And let’s face it: these Sox have needed a shot in the arm in the worst way. Yes, the Sox are taking care of business against their Chicago hosiery counterparts, but it’s too little, too late after they’ve failed to take care of business against everybody else for most of the second half.
Yes, there is already a logjam of outfielders and someone would have to be the odd man out. Despite ranking second on the team in homers — with two more coming Saturday night — I would squeeze the playing time of Tyler O’Neill to fit Anthony in since his production has been pretty hollow (just 53 RBIs for his 26 homers) this season.
With O’Neill unlikely to be back next season, and with the odds of making the playoffs against the Sox, I think getting Anthony ready to go should take priority. And who knows? Maybe Anthony takes the league by storm and puts the Sox on his back an carries them into the playoffs…
Either way, it’s a win-win.
Story’s back. Does it matter?
To his credit, Trevor Story stuck to the script of his rumored accelerated return from his early-season dislocated shoulder.
Not one week after beginning his rehab assignment, Story made his return to the majors and played in his first game since April 15th on Saturday against the White Sox.
Story hit seventh in the lineup and got the start at shortstop, going 1 for 4 with an RBI base hit in his first at-bat in the third inning to spot Boston a 6-2 advantage in an eventual 7-5, series-clinching victory.
The return of Trevor Story! pic.twitter.com/nISVmI8lls
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 8, 2024
Alex Cora, interestingly, doused a little water on that fire after the game…
“Not much,” Cora said when asked about what he saw from Story at the plate (he did strike out twice). “It’s (just) four at-bats. He put the ball in play with the infield in. That was huge.”
It was a nice moment nonetheless for the injury-plagued Story, who no doubt worked his butt off to get back to this point. Unfortunately, with his team being five games out with 20 remaining, it’s not likely to move the needle much at all…
Story hasn’t been one to hit the ground running upon his return from injury in the past. Maybe Saturday’s showing is foreshadowing a bucking of that trend. If anything, though, the most productive thing to come out of a hot post-rehab start for Story is getting him back in rhythm for next season…
Story is by all accounts a good guy and a competitor. He wanted to come to Boston to win. Yet the constant injuries and notable young infield talent waiting in the wings makes me think the Sox would be best to look to move on from Story in the offseason.
He’s entered Chris Sale territory in my eyes. He’s just not a guy you could count on to “post” with regularity. But unlike Sale, who is making the Sox look pretty foolish for moving on from him at the moment, I’m not too worried about Story going elsewhere and turning in an MVP season…
Story’s was never a great fit here, unfortunately. It’s too bad for all involved. But at this point, I think the time is right to cut bait this winter...
Saying goodbye (again)
Rich Hill’s fourth — and almost certain to be final — stint with the Red Sox has officially come to a close.
The 44-year-old was designated for assignment ahead of this weekend’s series against Chicago. Cora opted to go with right-handed reliever Luis Guerrero, a fireballing 24-year-old and former 17th-round draft pick of the Sox in 2021.
Hill deserved a better fate in terms of his on-field performance. The lanky lefty recorded three scoreless outings, only giving up runs after relieving Cooper Criswell of his perfect game on Sept. 1 in Detroit.
I was critical of the Sox needing to rely on Hill at this stage of the season given their rotational deficiencies, but there’s no denying the Boston native’s (likely) last hurrah was a fun story and a fitting sendoff.
Rich Hill won’t be remembered as a dominant pitcher, here or elsewhere. Yet to pitch in 20 major league seasons while posting a career 4.01 ERA across 1,409 innings in 386 appearances proves his worth as a more than serviceable big league pitcher.
“With Rich, obviously, it’s a tough one,” Cora said. “Everybody feels about him that he's part of the organization. You know, he's gonna be a Red Sox for life. But I think it’s more for us to start getting guys here that can contribute now and obviously in the future.”
So here’s to you, Rich Hill (assuming this is it. It has to be right? Right???). Yours was certainly a career worth being proud of.
Differing perspectives
It doesn’t take a trained eye to tell that the Red Sox and White Sox have had vastly different seasons.
Yet they’re both almost certainly headed for the same destination come October 1st: the couch.
So what does it really matter if one team has 32 wins and the other has 72? Whether it’s 90 wins, 80 wins, 30 wins or zero wins, if you miss the playoffs — you miss the playoffs. Your season was definitively a disappointment.
That’s the way I see it, anyway. But I know not everybody sees it the same way…
Count Will Flemming as one of them. While listening to the beginning of Friday’s radio broadcast, I tweeted my thoughts from above while Flemming was pointing out the (admittedly many) statistical deficiencies of the White Sox.
.@WillFlemming taking every chance to rip the White Sox is pretty funny… until you remember the Red Sox are a .500 team that’s headed for the exact same fate. #DirtyWater
— Gethin Coolbaugh (@GethinCoolbaugh) September 6, 2024
Flemming’s response? “They are 32-109, dude.”
That, at the time, was indeed true (… they are now 32-111). Near the close of his broadcast, Flemming would hammer home the point again: “The White Sox are down to their final out. 32-109. Sure puts 70-70 in perspective…”
Now, my intent was not to start beef with an extremely talented and knowledgable team broadcaster (and I mean it — Will has golden pipes and checks all the boxes for a modern-day baseball broadcaster). But as many of you have commended me for in this space, I can’t help myself sometimes… I like to calls ‘em like I sees ‘em.
I certainly cannot dispute that the Red Sox are a better team than the White Sox. They are much closer to a championship on paper. But at the end of the day, they don’t hand out World Series trophies for statistics (much to the chagrin of many in the sabermetrics community, I’m sure…). And those nine teams who don’t make the postseason in each league don’t get an award for being any better than the teams below them...
In my book, the seventh-best team in the AL and the 15th team aren’t all that different. Beside both of their names is a giant “E” ... for eliminated.
The White Sox have long since clinched their “E.” As for the Red Sox? It’s only a matter of time now…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.