For the large majority of the 2026 season, Red Sox fans have waited patiently for a string of positive updates on Roman Anthony. At long last, they’re coming.

Last week, Anthony began taking overhand batting practice. This week, he progressed to taking BP swings off the Trajekt machine, described as a “pitching robot” that provides a higher-velocity pitch than standard BP. Throughout it all, the club has been monitoring Anthony for any physical setbacks or issues as he works his way back from a torn ligament at the base of his ring finger.

And prior to Friday night’s game in Pittsburgh, interim manager Chad Tracy said that Anthony is nearing a rehab assignment, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Chad Tracy said Roman Anthony continues to swing off the Trajekt in Fort Myers, and said he could begin a rehab assignment relatively soon. He wanted to avoid specific dates for when that might occur, but said it likely wouldn’t be this weekend.

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier.bsky.social) 2026-08-14T21:30:06.712Z

When Anthony does head back to the minors, he’ll certainly need several games to not only get reacclimated to live pitching but also to ensure that he can physically withstand the rigors of playing every day. So while projecting a potential return date for Anthony before he’s even been given a rehab assignment is a difficult task, it’s fair to assume a return to the majors is still at least 10 to 14 days away.

And when — or, technically, if — Anthony does return to the majors, the Red Sox would be wise to not place the same type of expectations on the second-year outfielder that they did to start the season. Essentially since his debut, the Red Sox have placed the onus of being a top-of-the-order hitter on Anthony. He was expected to be their best hitter and top producer this season, despite having just 71 games of big league experience (and a little more than one season’s worth of minor league experience above single-A, for that matter).

With a smooth lefty stroke and a cool demeanor, the Red Sox as an organization were quickly enamored with Anthony’s potential in the majors. When he got the call to the big leagues, he was penciled in as the No. 5 hitter for his debut series.

After going 1-for-15 in his first four starts, he moved to the bench for two games. When he returned to the starting lineup, he was the team’s new No. 3 hitter. He wouldn’t start outside the top four spots in the lineup for the rest of his rookie season. (He started 27 games as the leadoff man, 13 games in the two-hole, 21 games in the three-spot and one game as the cleanup hitter.)

This year, even while fellow 2025 call-up Marcelo Mayer was employed toward the bottom of the order, the Red Sox leaned on Anthony as a top-of-the-order guy. He started 22 games in the leadoff spot and seven as the No. 3 hitter before getting hurt in early May.

When Anthony does return — let’s baselessly throw out Friday, Aug. 28, in the Bronx as a potential target — the Red Sox ought to resist the temptation to throw Anthony right back into the top of the order.

Showing that type of restraint will likely be a challenge, though, as the leadoff spot remains in flux.

Since Anthony last started on May 4, the leadoff spot has been occupied by Jarren Duran, Mickey Gasper, Masataka Yoshida, Anthony Seigler, Nate Eaton, Jahmai Jones, and Nick Sogard.

Together, that group (with Anthony’s 101 plate appearances in the leadoff spot included) has the worst batting average in the majors (.212), the worst OPS (.649), the second-worst on-base percentage (.296) and the second-fewest hits (105) out of the leadoff spot.

Even though Anthony didn’t produce out of that top spot in the lineup (.214 average with a .620 OPS in 22 games), Boston’s front office and coaching staff will likely look at him as the answer to all of their leadoff problems as soon as he becomes available to play. Refer back to the smooth swing and cool demeanor that previously impacted such decisions.

Realistically, though, the Red Sox shouldn’t look to Anthony to be a magical fix to anything at the top of the order. The offense has obviously found a way to be productive despite Tracy not having an obvious choice to pencil in to the top of his lineup every night. Instead, they should look to Anthony as an upgrade to Duran in the No. 7 spot in the order.

Duran’s just a .215 hitter with a .634 OPS as the seventh hitter, so asking Anthony to be an improvement on that is much more reasonable. It would help Anthony, which would in turn help the team. (And with Adley Rutschman taking all of Carlos Narvaez’s at-bats and some of Connor Wong’s at-bats, those two changes do represent a big upgrade for the offense.)

For various reasons, the Red Sox as an organization felt comfortable placing a whole lot of weight on Anthony’s shoulders as soon as he reached the majors.

He handled it well as a rookie … but then got hurt. He handled it much worse in 2026 … and also got hurt.

The Red Sox, winners of 33 games since June 25, don’t need Anthony to be a savior down the stretch. There’s no reason to try to force it.