FORT MYERS, Fla. — Earlier this week Alex Cora was requested if there was any likelihood if we may see prime outfield prospect Roman Anthony in a giant league sport this spring. His reply, “hard no.”
Only a few days later, there was Anthony’s title penciled into the Red Sox first house sport of the Grapefruit League season.
The 19-year-old outfielder, who ranks as Boston’s No. 2 prospect in response to Baseball America and as MLB’s No. 21 prospect general, has loved a meteoric rise since being drafted No. 79 general within the 2022 MLB Draft. He, together with fellow prime prospects Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel, is being heralded as a cornerstone of the subsequent Red Sox contender, and thus far the trio have lived as much as the hype.
Anthony and Teel are each anticipated to see vital time in Sunday’s house sport towards the Minnesota Twins, with Anthony beginning in middle subject and batting ninth whereas Teel comes off the bench as a delegated hitter. Cora mentioned he’s excited to get a more in-depth have a look at the 2 prospects and believes it is going to be good for everybody to offer them this sort of huge league publicity.
“I was actually thinking about this watching the Orioles yesterday, I know there are some people that have criticized us for banking on these kids in the future. It’s not a given, they’ve got to play, they’ve got to perform, and they’ve got to be good, but Baltimore wasn’t shy about talking about their guys and little by little they’re playing,” Cora mentioned. “We saw (Jackson) Holliday yesterday and today we have a chance to see (Anthony) play and hopefully it’s a good experience for him.”
Cora had an opportunity to get to know Anthony and Teel higher in the course of the Red Sox Rookie Development Program earlier this winter, and the supervisor mentioned he got here away impressed by how superior each had been bodily and mentally. Anthony specifically has proven exceptional progress even over the previous few months.
“He keeps getting stronger, every time you see him it’s like ‘wow, how much did you gain?’” Cora mentioned. “He keeps getting better. He’s a good conversation too, very mature kid, he understands what he needs to do to make it to the big leagues and hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.”
As for Teel, Cora mentioned the 22-year-old catcher boasts distinctive athleticism as properly, however what caught his consideration in the course of the Rookie Development Program was his consideration to element, notably in bullpen classes.
“He understands the metrics, he looks at the iPads and he understands pitch shapes and all of that, and he uses that as a tool for feedback with the pitchers,” Cora mentioned. “It’s the first time I’ve seen that, I told him we have to incorporate that into our program because the feedback from the catcher is probably the most important.”
Anthony and Teel are each anticipated to get two at bats and play roughly half the sport. It will seemingly be tougher to make time for the prospects because the spring goes alongside, particularly as soon as middle fielder Jarren Duran and catcher Connor Wong are absolutely cleared for sport motion, however Sunday needs to be a deal with for the gamers, the group and the followers, and maybe a preview of days to return.
“It’ll be fun for them today to go around and compete, be around the big league staff,” Cora mentioned. “I don’t know how much we’re going to get them throughout spring training but at least we’ll get them once.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com