The news is not good for Roman Anthony and the Boston Red Sox. During his weekly appearance on WEEI Afternoons Wednesday, manager Alex Cora said that the rookie star is heading to the injured list with a left oblique strain and could be facing a 4-6 week recovery.
"Yeah, he's going on IL," Cora said of Anthony (listen to the full interview above). "He has an oblique strain. Timetable, we don't know. It's a moderate one, so usually it takes from four-to-six weeks."
With just under four weeks left in the regular season, that means Anthony's regular season may very well be over. More importantly, his postseason availability -- should the Red Sox get there -- is now in question if his recovery trends towards the longer end of that 4-6 week timetable.
Anthony suffered the injury Tuesday night on a check swing and was pulled from the game. He was visibly dejected after the game, telling reporters, "It sucks. Hoping for the best and staying positive, but any time I'm not out there, I'm pretty pissed off. It sucks."
It's a potentially massive blow for the Red Sox given just how good the 21-year-old Anthony has been since making his major league debut in June. Anthony has hit .292 in 71 games with eight home runs, 32 RBIs, 48 runs scored and an .859 OPS, all while taking over as the team's everyday leadoff hitter.
Now, the Red Sox will have to try to find a way to replace Anthony's bat and the presence he brought to the top of the lineup. One thing that could help mitigate the loss would be the return of Wilyer Abreu, but Cora did not have great news on that front either, saying that the outfielder is still "not close" to returning from a calf injury.
"Not close," Cora said of Abreu. "Feeling better, but the running part of it is the one that is taking longer than expected. He can take grounders, he can hit and do all that stuff. When we get running, the process is going to speed up, so hopefully we can accomplish that at the end of the week."
When it comes to the unenviable task of trying to overcome Anthony's injury, Cora struck a straightforward, matter-of-fact tone.
"He's one of our best offensive players. It sounds harsh, but we have to move on, right?" Cora said. "We have to put that uniform on today and try to win a game. We've been through this before, right? Casas. We traded Raffy [Devers]. There's been a lot of stuff with this team, and we've been able to keep going. So, I expect the group to do the same thing."