Red Sox’ Roman Anthony returns to DH after late-game misplay as Alex Cora adjusts lineup again

Alex Cora shuffled his lineup on Monday night in the series opener against the Brewers, moving shortstop Trevor Story from the No. 2 spot down to fifth.

The adjustment paid off. Story went 1-for-4 with two RBI, delivering a two-out bloop RBI single in the first inning before adding a sacrifice fly in the third to extend Boston’s early lead to 3-0.

Cora will shake up his lineup again, penciling Jarren Duran into the No. 2 spot after previously hitting third.

Duran is looking to find his rhythm at the plate, off to a slow start, hitting .200 with five runs scored, four RBI, and two stolen bases. He’ll handle left field, a change that comes after a rough defensive sequence from Roman Anthony late in Monday’s game.

In the eighth inning, Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-out RBI single to left that exposed further defensive issues. As Brice Turang rounded third and broke for home, the ball skipped into Anthony’s glove. He rushed a throw toward the plate, but it sailed well off target, bouncing in the infield dirt, skipping past cutoff man Caleb Durbin, and rolling all the way to the backstop before catcher Carlos Narváez could track it down.

The sequence capped a difficult defensive showing and helped prompt Cora’s latest lineup adjustment heading into the next matchup.

“It was a terrible throw again,” Anthony said to reporters after the Red Sox’ 8-6 loss to the Brewers. 

Concerns surrounding Anthony’s arm strength and accuracy have lingered since the start of the season, becoming a growing point of emphasis internally for the Red Sox.

To address it, the club has been working closely with Anthony on his defensive mechanics, specifically his footwork, alongside outfield instructor Kyle Hudson. The focus has been on improving his setup and throwing base, aiming to create more consistent, on-line throws from the outfield.

While the tools are there, the Red Sox are clearly prioritizing refinement and repetition as Anthony continues to develop defensively at the major league level.

“I’m doing everything I can pregame, and I think just struggling to get a grip,” Anthony said. “But at the end of the day, there’s no excuse. It’s terrible. It’s bad baseball and it’s on me.”

Cora acknowledged to reporters on Saturday that Anthony’s defensive struggles are rooted in his footwork and overall throwing mechanics.

“There’s a few things that we have to be better (at) defensively and the kid knows it,” Cora said before Saturday’s game against the Padres. “The other day there was a play, (Carlos) Correa was at second, base hit to left and we got to throw him out and he knows it.”

When asked directly, Cora shut down any notion that Anthony is playing through an injury, making it clear the issues are not health-related.

Instead, Anthony’s arm strength and the consistency of his throws remain an area of concern, something the Red Sox know they need to get a handle on quickly. With the spotlight growing and opponents beginning to test him, tightening up those mechanics has become an immediate priority for the club.

“I’m doing everything I can pregame, and I think just struggling to get a grip,” Anthony said. “But at the end of the day, there’s no excuse. It’s terrible. It’s bad baseball and it’s on me.”

This marks the fifth time this season that Anthony will start at designated hitter, as the Red Sox look to manage his defensive development while keeping his bat in the lineup.

Durbin will begin the game on the bench as Boston squares off with Brewers’ young ace Jacob Misiorowski. The former Brewers infielder has struggled to find consistency at the plate, going just 4-for-32 (.125) through nine games despite a two-hit performance on Monday night.

Another storyline to monitor: Willson Contreras’s ongoing tension with Milwaukee. Contreras was hit by a pitch for the 24th time in his career against the Brewers, this time on the hand by Brandon Woodruff in the third inning. The Red Sox first baseman was visibly frustrated, barking toward the mound in a moment that could carry over into this matchup.

“It’s not just a hit-by-pitch,” Contreras said following Boston’s 8-6 loss. “That’s the 24th time they’ve hit me in my career, the sixth time he’s hit me. And they always say, ‘I’m not trying to hit you.’”

“That gets old,” he continued. “Next time they hit me, I’m going to take one of them out. That’s the message.”

Cora addressed the situation with Contreras on Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of keeping his emotions in check after Monday’s heated moments. Cora revealed he spoke with Contreras during the game in an effort to settle him down and avoid an ejection.

“We need him,” Cora said. “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish. He’s a good hitter. He’s a good defender. So try to keep him in the game. He was very emotional yesterday during and I guess after. But today he’s calmed down. So we’ll see how it plays out. But he knows that we need him and we’ll do our best to keep him in the lineup and keep him in the game.”

The Red Sox skipper believes Contreras will be able to channel that intensity more effectively heading into Tuesday night.

“We’ll see,” Cora said. “I mean, see and react. I don’t know what taking somebody down means, to be honest with you. But like I said, my job as a manager is to make sure he’s in the lineup — he stays in the game. And yesterday we did a good job and he had a tremendous game. You know, he feels like he’s swinging the bat a lot better. He feels very comfortable. So we need the big boy in the lineup.”

It’s unlikely either side looks to escalate tensions by pitching inside, especially with two frontline arms set to take the mound.

Boston will hand the ball to Garrett Crochet in what shapes up to be a premium early-season matchup against Misiorowski.

The Red Sox enter at 2-8, mired in a deep slump, offensively out of sync, inconsistent on the mound, and shaky defensively. Still, Crochet has been a bright spot. The 2025 AL Cy Young runner-up is 1-1 through his first two starts with a 3.27 ERA. He was dominant on Opening Day against Cincinnati, firing six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits.

“It’s always important to have [Crochet],” Cora said on Monday. “But I think it takes more than Garrett. It’s a total team effort. We’ve got to put a full game together, pitch, play good defense, run the bases well. We need one of those.”

Boston will have its hands full against Misiorowski, who’s off to a blistering start. The 6-foot-7 right-hander owns a 2.45 ERA with a 1-0 record, racking up 18 strikeouts in just 11 innings.

For the Red Sox, it starts with their ace. Crochet will need to set the tone and deliver the kind of outing expected from a frontline arm, pounding the zone, missing bats, and keeping Milwaukee’s lineup in check.

If Boston is going to snap out of its early-season spiral, it begins on the mound. With Crochet on the bump, Tuesday night presents a chance to reset the narrative. First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m.