The Red Sox looked lost at the plate against Yankees ace Cam Schlittler Tuesday night, and then saw one of the club’s budding stars exit early.
Roman Anthony was unexpectedly lifted for pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio in the top of the sixth inning after striking out in his first two plate appearances in Boston’s Game 1 matchup of the wild-card series against the Yankees.
“That’s not a good sign,” ex-Red Sox infielder Lou Merloni said during the NBC broadcast.
Anthony was seen flexing his right wrist in the dugout after his first-inning strikeout but stayed in for another plate appearance before he was removed.
Merloni referred to an at-bat in Boston’s regular-season finale on Sunday against the Cubs in which Anthony appeared to experience discomfort in his right hand.
“There was a check swing [in Sunday’s game], where we weren’t sure what we were seeing,” Merloni added. “It looked like he was shaking it out a little bit. Obviously, [he] hasn’t been right and there’s something going on with it.”
The 22-year-old missed 107 games after sustaining an injury, which was initially reported as a wrist issue but later called a ring finger ailment, and experiencing a myriad of setbacks during his rehab.
In 55 games this season, Anthony hit .245/.339/.396 with just five homers and 15 RBIs.
It was not the type of season either side envisioned after Boston inked Anthony, considered one of baseball’s top prospects, to a historic $130 million deal shortly after his MLB debut.
