Roman Anthony will miss a third straight game as the Red Sox manage upper-back tightness during an early slump—raising questions about timing and recovery.
The Red Sox will adjust their lineup again as Roman Anthony remains sidelined with back tightness.
For a third straight game, Boston is listing Anthony as out, according to the team’s announced lineup ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles. Anthony last played Tuesday against the New York Yankees, when he said the discomfort first appeared during an at-bat.
Anthony explained that the issue surfaced while swinging. describing it as “a weird thing that happened on a swing.” He said it was cold during the game. which made it harder to immediately identify what was wrong.. After noticing something during his swing. he returned to the dugout. watched video back. and ultimately realized the feeling was unusual enough to treat as something more than routine soreness.. The location, he said, is his upper back—an area he hadn’t dealt with physically before.
Back tightness is a familiar injury category for hitters, but it can be deceptively disruptive.. In baseball. even minor stiffness in the upper torso can change the rhythm of a swing. affect bat path. and reduce comfort with rotation through contact.. That matters for a player trying to build consistency, especially when early-season plate appearances are already pressing for results.
There’s also a larger story threading through Anthony’s situation: last year’s injury history.. His rookie season ended early in September with a left oblique strain. which kept him out of Boston’s wild-card series against the Yankees in October—his team’s first playoff appearance since 2021.. The oblique is essential to a hitter’s ability to generate torque and control the swing’s rotation. and Anthony has made clear that he has a mental benchmark for comparison.. He said he believes this current problem is not as severe as the oblique issue he faced in 2025.
The Red Sox offense, meanwhile, has struggled to find its footing so far this season.. Anthony enters the weekend with a batting average of .225 and a .361 on-base percentage, with an OPS of .686.. He has one home run—hit April 1 against the Houston Astros—and has driven in just four runs through 22 games.. In that context. the decision to keep him out for another game becomes more than a routine day-to-day call; it’s part of the team’s effort to stabilize production while health becomes the limiting factor.
Anthony’s own comments after Thursday’s loss sounded cautiously optimistic.. He indicated he expected to return “in the next couple of days. ” which made a Friday appearance plausible at the time.. But with the Red Sox already carrying him into a third consecutive absence, the timeline has shifted.. For fans. that’s frustrating. especially when the early season is when hitters want to establish patterns—timing. confidence. and comfort in their bodies.. For Boston, it likely means the medical and training staff wants more certainty before bringing him back.
Comparisons between back problems and prior oblique soreness also reflect how quickly a season can change when injuries overlap with mechanics.. The oblique strain in 2025 may have required more than recovery time; it also took away live-game reps during a stretch that shaped how Anthony entered pro baseball’s biggest moments.. Even if this new issue is milder. lingering tightness can force players to compensate. and compensation can become a cycle—especially if the discomfort affects swing timing.
If Anthony is sidelined long enough to fully settle the upper-back tightness, Boston gains more than a healthier lineup spot.. The player himself benefits from regaining the kind of comfort that allows bat control to return.. With the Orioles series as the next test. the Red Sox will be watching not just for his return. but for whether his swing looks like the version that can break through a slow start—without the body prompting doubt mid-plate appearance.
In the meantime, Boston’s lineup will keep searching for production with Anthony out, and the next couple of days will likely determine whether this is a quick fix or a longer subplot in the season’s early rhythm.