Roman Anthony expected to miss rest of Red Sox postseason with new hand injury, might need surgery

NEW YORK — Roman Anthony is expected to miss the rest of the postseason for the Boston Red Sox because of new damage to his right hand sustained in an AL Wild Card Series opener against the New York Yankees.

It is not yet clear whether he will need surgery. Anthony was sidelined from early May to late August with an injury to the same hand.

"We did everything we could to be back this year and play, which we did," Anthony said Wednesday in the tunnel outside the Red Sox clubhouse at Yankee Stadium before Game 2. "Going forward, we haven't really even talked about it today."

Batting leadoff as Boston's designated hitter in his playoff debut Tuesday night, Anthony struck out in both of his at-bats against Cam Schlittler, then was removed for a pinch hitter with the Red Sox trailing by two runs in the sixth inning of a 9-0 loss.

Boston manager Chad Tracy said Anthony felt discomfort in his right hand after a couple of checked swings.

"After I came back, the hand was never really fully 100%," Anthony said. "For me it was to a point where it was tolerable and I was taking certain swings that were sketchy and I was still able to come back and recover enough to just be in there every single day. But ultimately I just took a few swings here recently where that wasn't the case."

The team sent Anthony to Boston in a car after the game. He arrived about 3 a.m. and had new MRIs on Wednesday morning.

"Additional damage to some muscles in his wrist that weren't there before," Tracy said.

The 22-year-old Anthony returned to Massachusetts because the medical staff there was familiar with his injury from earlier this season.

"My thoughts are kind of all over the place," he said. "Feelings and emotions of, you work all this year to put yourself in a position to just be good enough to go in the playoffs and for this to happen, it just doesn't feel real."

Anthony wasn't sure whether the injury is something he'll have to manage going forward.

"Given the point where we were at this year and all the different things that I tried and the different shots that I took and the routes that I went, I think — never really rested a ton, right? — so I don't necessarily know the answer to that," he said. "Once we saw it today, it was more so about like, all right, this is what it is. You can't go. It's not in the team's best interest for you to play tonight. So get back there. Root your guys on and be a good teammate. And then once, like I said, once we get past the series, it'll be one of those things where we reassess regardless of what happens and kind of go from there."

Anthony missed 101 games from May 5 to Aug. 29 with the earlier injury to his hand.

"There's been periods of time since he's come back where he'll get a zinger and feel something. And then it dissipates and we're good to go," Tracy said. "That's not been an uncommon occurrence since he's come back. But yesterday, as you went through those two at-bats, it got worse."

The club announced Anthony was diagnosed with a right hand strain, and Major League Baseball approved a Red Sox roster substitution. Anthony was replaced on the Wild Card Series roster by infielder Curtis Mead, obtained from Washington in late July for pitcher Connelly Early.

According to MLB rules, Anthony is ineligible to return until the American League Championship Series — if the Red Sox advance that far.

"I've been experiencing some things with the swings and the check-swings over the past six weeks. Last night just felt a little bit more intense, a little bit more worse than past swings that have been lingering a little bit longer than the ones I was used to," Anthony said.

"It was just super alarming and it got to a point where it was tough to grip a bat. I knew then and there that this was a little bit more similar to the one earlier in the year. That's why we decided to go get imaging."

Mead got hit by a pitch in his first game with the Red Sox at the Athletics on July 27 and was placed on the injured list with a broken left wrist. He hasn't played in the big leagues since.

Mead was on the bench for Game 2 against the Yankees. Jahmai Jones was set to hit leadoff as the DH with the Red Sox one loss from elimination, followed in the batting order by catcher Adley Rutschman, first baseman Willson Contreras, right fielder Wilyer Abreu, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, third baseman Caleb Durbin, second baseman Nick Sogard, shortstop Trevor Story and left fielder Nate Eaton.

Sonny Gray was set to start on the mound for Boston against one of his former teams. Left-hander Max Fried was scheduled to pitch for New York.

One of baseball's premier prospects when he debuted in the majors last year, Anthony batted .245 with five home runs, 15 RBIs and a .735 OPS in 55 games this season.

"Hopefully he's going to be healthy for next year," Abreu said. "It's a big loss for us, but we still have to play the game and try to win the game today."

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