4:23 p.m.: MLB has now officially announced this move, with Mead replacing Anthony.
4:15 p.m.: It will be Mead who replaces Anthony, according to Jorge Castillo of ESPN.
3:34 p.m.: The Red Sox will retire the outfielder Romain Antoine from their list due to his hand injury. He suffered several new hand strains and a re-aggravation of the injury he suffered earlier this year. Curtis Mead And Antoine Seigler are candidates to replace him. The league has not yet approved the transaction. Under the rule, a player removed from a playoff roster during one series must also miss the next series, so Anthony will not be eligible for the ALDS if the Sox advance. WEEI’s Rob Bradford, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and MLB.com’s Ian Browne were among those who relayed the details.
The hand injury really ruined Anthony’s sophomore season. He made his debut last year and posted an excellent .292/.396/.463 line in his first 71 big league games. Along the way, the Red Sox signed him to a $130 million extension. Ideally he would have been even better in his second league campaign, but that was not to be the case. His wrist/hand issues put him on the IL for nearly four months of the regular season. He was only able to play in 55 regular season games and hit .245/.339/.396 in those.
The official diagnosis for his placement on the IL in May was a sprained right wrist, but Anthony said it was actually a torn ligament in his right ring finger. This was initially thought to be a fairly minor issue, but it persisted for most of the season. He was back on the field in September and was on the Wild Card list, but left last night’s game with even more soreness. It now appears he is in a worse situation than in May.
“He was fired last night after leaving the game,” coach said Chad Tracy said today, by Cotillo. “We sent him back to Boston for additional imaging, which revealed new strains on different muscles in his wrist in addition to exasperating old injuries. It’s not great.”
For now, the Sox will focus on survival. They lost last night’s match and are now on the verge of elimination. Anthony was the designated hitter last night and the Sox had an outfield of Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu And Jarren Duran. With left-handed Max Frit on the hill for the Yankees, Nate Eaton replaced Duran to start tonight’s contest. Jahma Jones is in the DH spot. Either Mead or Seigler will be added to the bench once the deal is formally approved.
Maybe Anthony can be a factor in the ALCS and World Series if the Sox survive, but the injury seems pretty concerning. Given that his previous absence was several months long and this one looks worse, it would be a surprise if he is healthy enough to play in a few weeks, although the Sox have not yet explicitly ruled him out for the season.
At some point, whether due to Anthony closing for the year or the club’s season ending, the focus will shift to the future. The Sox and Anthony will have to figure out how to get his hand back to normal, whether that involves surgery or another path forward.
Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images
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