Roman Anthony injury: Alex Cora says star likely out 4-6 weeks with oblique strain

“He’s one of our best offensive players. It sounds harsh but we have to move on."

Roman Anthony is likely out for the rest of the regular season. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe

September 3, 2025

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Red Sox fans waiting on bated breath for some good news following Roman Anthony’s MRI scan are in for some disappointment.

Speaking on WEEI Wednesday afternoon, Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirmed that Anthony is set to land on the injured list due to an oblique strain suffered the previous night against Cleveland.

Based on the prognosis of the muscle injury, Cora said that Anthony could miss the remainder of the regular season.

“He’s going on the IL. He has an oblique strain,” Cora said on WEEI. “Timetable, we don’t know. … Usually takes from 4-6 weeks.”

Anthony exited Boston’s eventual 11-7 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday after appearing to tweak something in his side while up at the plate against starter Slade Cecconi in the fourth inning.

After showing some discomfort on a check swing, Anthony grabbed his lower back/left side after striking out an inside curveball — with the 21-year-old outfielder gingerly making his way back to the dugout and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.

Roman Anthony is out of the game. Here’s the swing where it looks like he tweaked his back.

Immediately went down to the clubhouse.

Time to start the prayer circle. pic.twitter.com/7kcxKLUfbs
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) September 2, 2025

Anthony was replaced by Nate Eaton in the top of the fifth inning, who took over as the Red Sox’s right fielder for the remainder of the night. Boston announced in the top of the seventh inning that Anthony was removed from the game due to “left oblique tightness.”

While Cora noted Tuesday night that the Red Sox weren’t going to make any sweeping conclusions until Anthony underwent an MRI, the star rookie didn’t have the most encouraging update while speaking to the media after the win.

Anthony missed two games in August with what the Red Sox deemed as mid-back tightness, but the outfielder acknowledged that this injury felt far worse.

“This is definitely worse in terms of the way it feels. … “I haven’t dealt with something like this before, so I’d be lying if I said I knew [about a recovery timeline],” Anthony said Tuesday. “Yeah, it sucks. I’m hoping for the best and staying positive, but anytime I’m not out there, I’m pretty pissed off. It sucks.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Anthony acknowledged that he didn’t feel much better after a night of rest, adding that he isn’t putting a timetable on his return.

“I don’t want to set any realistic or unrealistic goals,” Anthony said. “I think for me it’s just a matter of showing up every day and doing everything I can in the training room and everything I can: sleeping, diet to make sure I’m physically and mentally in my best shape and just try to get out there as soon as I can.”

“It sucks. I wish I could play,” the rookie added. “That’s all I really care about. … I’m going to continue to support these guys, be the best teammate I can, and hopefully get back to help this team win a World Series.”

“It sucks. I wish I could play. That’s all I really care about. … I’m going to continue to support these guys, be the best teammate I can, and hopefully get back to help this team win a World Series.”

Roman Anthony on his injury timeline. pic.twitter.com/zxvZuGTx9W
— NESN (@NESN) September 3, 2025

Losing Anthony for any significant stretch stands as a devastating setback for the Red Sox.

The former No. 1 prospect in baseball has been as advertised as a game-changing presence at the top of Boston’s lineup.

Through 71 games with Boston, Anthony is batting .292 with eight home runs, 18 doubles, and 32 RBI while sporting a .396 on-base percentage.

He’s been even better after initially stumbling through his first few weeks of big-league action. Since June 28, Anthony ranks third in the American League in both on-base percentage (.421) and hits (68), while ranking fourth in average (.329).

Since Anthony was called up by the Red Sox on June 9, Boston sports the second-best record in baseball at 46-27.

“He’s one of our best offensive players,” Cora said of Anthony on WEEI. “It sounds harsh but we have to move on. We’ve got to put that uniform on today and try to win a game. We’ve been through this before.

“There’s been a lot of stuff with this team and we’ve been able to keep going so I expect the group to keep doing the same thing.”

Boston’s outfield has been decimated with injuries over the last month, as Wilyer Abreu has been hampered by a calf strain since August 17.

Speaking on Tuesday, Cora said that Abreu has not made any sizable improvements in his ongoing recovering from the muscle injury.

“He’s not running today, either,” Cora said of Abreu’s recovery. “Just progressing but slowly. Not the way we envisioned when the injury happened. So we just have to be patient. It’s not a setback. It’s just like it’s not getting better.”

If Anthony returns within four weeks, it would put him on track to return midway through a Wild Card playoff series — while a six-week timetable may have him sidelined until a possible ALCS, if Boston does get that far.

The odds of Boston orchestrating such a deep run into October did take a sizable hit now that Anthony is on the mend.

“I think September 3rd tells you the whole story. You see it. You see it in the standings,” Cora said Wednesday of how Boston stays motivated with Anthony sidelined. “We’re two and a half games back from Toronto [in the AL East]. We’re in a good place in the Wild-Card race. So if that doesn’t give you energy to show up every day and play hard? Then I don’t know what we’d do.”