Roman Anthony set the tone for Red Sox on Opening Day

CINCINNATI - While the only Opening Day parade in all of baseball was filling the streets with a sea of red outside Great American Ballpark, Roman Anthony could be found in front of his locker, immersed in information about the pitcher he was about to face, an All-Star lefty by the name of Andrew Abbott.

One of the topics that came up in his conversation with the director of hitting development, Chris Stasio: What to do with the very first pitch of the 2026 season?

“We had talked about that,” Stasio said after the Red Sox’ 3-0, Opening Day win over the Reds. “He told he me he was going first pitch. But he says that a lot, but he doesn’t always do it.”

This time, he did it.

The preparation and plan worked out, with Abbott pumping a 92.5 mph fastball that Anthony turned around for a 112.3 mph line drive up the middle for a leadoff single. Mookie Betts had attempted the approach in 2018 at Tropicana Field. As did Andrew Benintendi the following season in Seattle. Both outs, Betts on a fly out and Benintendi weakly grounding to first.

“I got a good pitch to hit and I figured on the first pitch of the season it probably wasn’t going to be anything but a fastball. Just a good one to hit.”

Anthony and the Red Sox were on their way for the rest of the day.

Garrett Crochet looked like the Cy Young runner-up version of himself, all the way through to when he pumped in a pair of 98.3 mph fastballs on the way to back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Marcelo Mayer coming off the bench to flash the potential so many have been drooling over since his name was called with the fourth overall selection in 2021, managing two hits and two runs in his plate appearances.

Jarren Duran answering the lefty-on-lefty questions with two hits vs. southpaws, including a single against lefty specialist Brock Burke that drove in the visitors’ third run.

Masterful use of ABS by Anthony in the ninth, that turned what would have been a called third strike with two outs in the ninth into a walk that allowed for two more runs for the Red Sox.

The peace of mind that came with the continued best version of relievers Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman, with Whitlock getting the better of the hitter he had fallen victim to in Venezuela’s WBC title game, Eugenio Suarez.

And, once again, a whole lot of Anthony.

When you're 21 years old and manage four hits while hitting leadoff in your very first Major League Opening Day, it tends to make most understand why Alex Cora and Co. have no problem allowing Anthony to be an organizational alpha.

"You've got to make pitches with him from the get-go. He puts pressure on the opposition," Cora said. "Last year, I learned very fast that this kid is good, and I had some good leadoff hitters that they changed the game right away. George Springer in '17, Mookie did it here. J.D. did it two years ago. And we expect the same thing from Roman."

There is a reason why Anthony is firmly placed in the top 10 of American League MVP candidates. It's the kind of expectations that is maybe one of the more certain aspects of this entire equation. The other elements of the victory? They might have needed the nudge provided on Thursday afternoon.

Perhaps the biggest sigh of relief was born from Crochet's six innings, with the lefty quickly putting his somewhat uneasy spring training firmly in the rearview mirror thanks to a high-90's fastball and a no-nonsense approach.

The result was six innings of shutout ball in which he allowed just three hits, struck out eight, and finished with a tidy 80 pitches.

"A little bit of an environment and just having some stake on the line," said Crochet regarding the difference in his appearance in Southwest Florida compared to Ohio. "As far as Opening Days go, this has been the coolest one I've been a part of. You could tell baseball means a lot to this town. There was some trash talk in the bullpen, but it was just the energy all game. The fans were very into it. So. So it's easy to let them supply the emotion in that situation."

Mayer also allowed for an optimistic step forward, doubling on the first pitch he saw from reliever Pierce Johnson in the seventh before ultimately being driven in with the game's first run on Ceddanne Rafaela's two-out single.

A ninth-inning opposite-field single, leading to some much-needed insurance, only punctuated Mayer's presence.

"He’s unbelievable. He’s a great player," Anthony said of Mayer. "Him being able to do that off the bench, the kind of player he is, is going to be huge for us all year. The defense. The at-bats. The quality of at-bats in the spring, I think, was huge and something that was kind of slept on. Guys in here saw it. It’s great to see that from him and kind of rolling it into Opening Day, and off the bench, too."

And, to top it off, Anthony's ABS instincts in the ninth showed what it can be when it comes to this new world of MLB.

All in all, Day 1 went about as well as the Red Sox could have hoped for. Just ask the star of the day.

"It felt great," Anthony said. "It felt great to just have all the guys in one room and everyone kind of be together. Spring can be where guys come and go. Guys go home and get their rest. But to have everyone there for nine innings and see it play out the way we kind of planned in a game, in a regular-season game. It was awesome. It was awesome to be back out there. Awesome to get a win."