Roman Anthony Scouting Report

Roman Anthony detailed scouting report from Chris Clegg.

Roman Anthony has enjoyed a major breakout this season, especially since joining High-A Greenville. Over 76 games and 354 plate appearances this season, Anthony has a .259/.398/.461 with 11 home runs and 13 stolen bases, but since joining Greenville in mid-June, Anthony has a .298/.428/.645 with ten home runs over 152 plate appearances.

I have long been enamored with Anthony, especially after digging in when the Red Sox drafted him last year with the 79th overall pick. I saw a strong athlete with solid speed and plenty of power. Scouts had concerns about his hit tool, but when he landed at the Complex level post-draft in 2022, both his contact and chase rates were very good, and I became even more interested.

https://twitter.com/RotoClegg/status/1599488965442121729?s=20

The stat line is nice, but what does Anthony bring to the table, and how does he project as a player? After seeing him over ten times live since he joined Greenville, I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on who Anthony is as a player. Let’s break it down.

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Physical Description

Anthony is tall and projectable, listed at 6’2”/200 lb, but I would argue he is taller than 6’2”, and his frame still looks like it has room to add muscle, despite already being well-built. He has long legs and a strong upper half. Considering he just turned 19 in May, he has an impressive build.

Hit

Anthony starts with his hands high, near his back shoulder, while standing tall and upright at the plate.

He begins slightly open and has an exaggerated leg kick but in reality, he barely gets his front foot off the ground and is planted early and ready for impact. His hands get in a strong load position, creating a nice separation between the hands and striding, helping create plenty of torque in a balanced position. Anthony generates plenty of bat speed because of this and uses both his upper and lower half well.

A lot of Anthony’s power comes from his ability to use his lower half, having strong rotation in his hips. His swing is a beautiful two-handed uppercut from the left side of the plate.

The questions about Anthony’s hit tool have seemingly been answered this year as he has run an 86 percent zone-contact in Single-A and has seen a slight decrease to 83 percent in High-A.

There are questions about his ability to hit lefties, but I am not ready to hit the panic button on a player who just turned 19 years old and is playing his first full season of pro baseball. The splits are rather drastic, though, as Anthony has a .500 OPS versus lefties in High-A compared to a 1.166 OPS against righties. Again, this is not a major concern yet, as we have already seen improvements against lefties as the year has gone on.

Anthony does handle fastballs and higher velocity well, showing very solid numbers for his age and level, but has shown some struggles with breaking balls. On Saturday, I saw Rome have a scouting report out on Anthony as they threw him nothing but sliders to his back foot and he showed some swing-and-misses, plus chase for the first time all season. It was a rare game for him, which is a testament to how well he has played this season.

He has a keen eye for the strike zone and does not chase very often, as shown by a 16 percent chase rate this season. Despite being at the very early stages of his career and developing a plate approach, Anthony is already showing average or better contact with easy-plus plate discipline.

Power

Anthony already shows a feel for plus raw power and has begun translating into games in High-A. In batting practice sessions, the power comes with ease, and it shows in his in-game exit velocities.

In High-A, Anthony has a hard-hit rate north of 50 percent with a 90th percentile exit velocity above 105 mph. Both of these numbers suggest plus power and the swing mechanics back this up.

The power is not just to the pull side either, as he has hit more home runs to the opposite field than he has to the pull side. Some have expressed concerns about this, but I don’t really see an issue as he has running a pretty even batted ball distribution on pulled, opposite field, and up-the-middle hits. The more impressive thing to me is that Anthony is getting to so much opposite field power as a young 19-year-old.

https://twitter.com/RotoClegg/status/1686832433193209856?s=20

Run

On the base paths, Anthony shows solid bursts of speed, and clocks as an average runner. It is possible to see the speed take a step back as he continues to add muscle and fill out his frame, but considering he is already a strong 200 lbs, he does move well.

He has stopped stealing as much since moving to High-A, but that is also a factor of being on first less than he was in Single-A, as 21 of his 37 hits have been extra-base hits, but he has also has less stolen base opportunities in general. For the season Anthony has 13 stolen bases and has been caught seven times.

In Centerfield, Anthony covers a ton of ground, but we will talk more about that in the next section.

Defense

As good as Roman Anthony has been at the dish, his glove is highly underrated. He makes incredible plays in centerfield and shows strong range. The reads are very strong off the bat and Anthony makes quick jumps and has great paths to balls. I have seen him make a ton of diving catches, including this one last night where he unfortunately went out of the range of my camera.

Here is a shot where Anthony goes way off my camera to track down a catch.

There should be no question about Anthony’s ability to stick in centerfield from everything I have seen. In fact, I’d argue he is a plus centerfielder and his glove has been one of his best aspects this season.

From an arm standpoint, Anthony has an average arm. It will play whether he is in center or right field in the Majors.

Future Outlook

Roman Anthony brings a highly intriguing skillset to the table that could lead to him being a middle-of-the-order centerfield bat. The plate discipline and OBP skills could also allow him to hit at the top of the lineup with good power. Anthony has a mature body and swing for someone who just turned 19 years old and is very polished in centerfield. His performance in Greenville could lead to a promotion to Double-A Portland by the end of the season.

It is possible we see a debut in Boston in late 2024, but 2025 feels like a safer bet. Anthony could be a 25-home-run bat that posts respectable batting averages but high OBPs due to his plate discipline. This is a player I want on all dynasty league teams and one the Red Sox should be thrilled to have in their farm system.