Things weren’t going Roman Anthony’s way through the first two rounds of the Futures Skills Showcase. The Red Sox prospect had been shut out in the “Hit It Here” competition and managed only six points in the “Call Your Shot” portion.
But then it came time to swing for the fences, and the 20-year-old outfielder stole the show.
Despite entering the final round firmly in last place, Anthony put on a monster showing in the “Swing For The Fences” home run competition, coming all the way back to win the whole thing. Anthony homered on six of his eight pitches, including each of his first four, to finish with 66 points, narrowly beating out Texas Rangers prospect Sebastian Walcott (64 points).
Anthony particularly benefitted from his big early streak. The way the scoring worked each home run to the pull-side or to center field was worth six points, but in addition to opposite-field knocks being worth 12 points, so were any home runs hit on consecutive swings. Anthony got six points on his first shot and then 12 points on each of his next three, immediately erasing his early deficit to put him back among the overall leaders. Then, he went back-to-back again on his sixth and seventh swings, giving him 18 more points and the win.
The dramatic performance capped off a memorable Saturday for Boston’s “big three.”
In addition to Anthony’s heroics, fellow top prospects Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel each participated in Saturday’s MLB All-Star Futures Game, which annually showcases many of the sport’s top up-and-coming talents. Teel went 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles and Mayer went 0 for 2.
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