Red Sox's Previously Unheralded Slugger Flying Up Prospect Rankings

The Boston Red Sox only had one true top prospect for the first half of the season -- shortstop Marcelo Mayer -- according to the consensus of analysts, until now.

Earlier in the week Baseball Prospectus made waves when they ranked Red Sox outfielder prospect Roman Anthony as the No. 9 prospect in the league, one spot ahead of Mayer. 

The report was followed by tons of praise but many in the know acknowledged that the ranking was a little too high and Mayer remains the most exciting minor leaguer in the organization.

Now a site with a much higher pedigree is jumping in on the Anthony hype, providing a much more reasonable take.

Baseball America has ranked Anthony as the No. 35 prospect in the league in their post-draft top-100. 

Anthony joins Mayer (No. 8) and Miguel Bleis (No. 88) as Red Sox representatives on the list. 

The 19-year-old entered High-A Greenville as the youngest player in the league and has absolutely torched opposing pitching. Anthony is hitting .362 with 13 extra-base hits including seven home runs, 17 RBIs and a 1.331 OPS in 16 games since his promotion. 

While his current hot streak is unsustainable, he's proven to have the exit velocity needed for a successful career and has not let the more advanced pitching overmatch him. 

Anthony was a second-round pick in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft and appears to be reaching his potential early on. He's entering the "untouchable" category as the trade deadline nears and could join a cluster of Marcelo Mayer, Nick Yorke, Ceddanne Rafaela and Blaze Jordan as top prospects set to debut in the 2024/2025 range.