The Red Sox are finally starting to get some bodies back, and that matters because the recent stretch has exposed just how thin the margin gets when the injury list starts to bite. Roman Anthony will join Double-A Portland on Tuesday to begin his rehab assignment, which means the Portland Sea Dogs are suddenly hosting a player whose return could alter the shape of Boston’s lineup as much as any tactical tweak.
This is not just a feel-good checkpoint. It is a reminder of what Boston has been missing. Anthony tore a ligament in his right ring finger on May 5 while fouling off a pitch in Detroit, and since then the leadoff spot has not looked nearly as dangerous. The Red Sox had been cruising through a six-week run in which they averaged nearly six runs a game, but they have now lost seven of their previous nine. That is the sort of dip that makes every missing bat feel even more expensive.
The Portland stop is the first real step back
Anthony’s assignment begins in Double-A Portland on Tuesday, and that is the right word: begins. Nobody should pretend one rehab stop fixes a lineup problem, but it does at least put the Red Sox on a road toward restoring one of their more important pieces. The timing also gives Portland Sea Dogs a prominent role in a process that Boston has to treat carefully. After six weeks away, Anthony does not need noise. He needs game speed, repetitions, and a clean path back.
Trevor Story is on a similar track, and his situation shows why Boston is easing both players back in rather than forcing anything. Story was 1 for 2 and played four innings in the field for Triple-A Worcester on Monday, and he is due to fly to Syracuse on Tuesday to play two more games. Story said it is all about getting game-speed work and his game legs under him, and he sounded genuinely encouraged by the progress. That matters because the Red Sox have had to patch shortstop with Tsung-Che Cheng, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Marcelo Mayer, Andruw Monasterio, and Nick Sogard since Story went on the injured list. That is a lot of shuffling for one position, and it tells you the problem has been bigger than just one absence.
Boston needs both returns for different reasons
The Story and Anthony recoveries are connected, but they are not the same story. Story’s return is about stabilizing shortstop after weeks of makeshift solutions. Anthony’s return is about getting back the kind of production that makes the top of the order look dangerous instead of merely functional. Those are different holes, and Boston has been living with both at once.
There is still a long way to go. Story is working through rehab games, Anthony is only just starting his assignment, and the Red Sox are coming off a 11-1 win over the Diamondbacks rather than a clean, uninterrupted stretch of dominance. But even in a season where the results have swung sharply, the fact that Anthony is heading to Portland on Tuesday is a meaningful development. It says Boston is close to turning one of its biggest recovery stories into an actual lineup upgrade instead of just a hopeful update.
And for the Portland Sea Dogs, that is the sort of assignment that raises the temperature immediately. Rehab games are supposed to be practical. They are also a reminder that, in Boston, every step back onto the field comes with stakes attached.
