FORT MYERS, Fla. — Roman Anthony will begin the regular season as the Red Sox leadoff hitter.
The reason is simple.
“It can be 1-0 very quick or it’s a quality at-bat,” manager Alex Cora said.
The 21-year-old made 27 of his 66 starts in the leadoff spot as a rookie in 2025. He went 37-for-110 (.336) with a. .439 on-base percentage, .564 slugging percentage, 1.003 OPS, six home runs, five doubles, one triple, 17 RBIs and 26 runs there.
In his 27 plate-appearances leading off games, he was 8-for-25 (.320) with two home runs, one walk and one hit by pitch.
“George Springer, Mookie Betts, they’ve done it before,” Cora said. “Set the tempo.”
Anthony also was very good at leading off innings last year, going 22-for-69 (.319) with four home runs and five doubles.
“It’s a great spot,” Anthony said. “I think it’s something for me that I take with a lot of pride — getting the boys going and trying to get on base. I think that first inning, if you can do some damage in that first inning or just score some runs … I think that’s huge in a baseball game, kind of changing the momentum.”
Anthony also started 21 games in the third spot of the lineup, 13 games in the second spot, four games in the fifth spot and one game in the cleanup spot last year.
“Felt really comfortable in the leadoff spot last year, but ultimately just want to do anything to help the team win,” Anthony said. “And if that’s what AC feels like gives us the best chance, then I’m all in.”
He will lead off the Red Sox on Saturday when they open their Grapefruit League schedule with a 1:05 p.m. road game against the Twins across town at Hammond Stadium.
Cora has now identified his leadoff hitter and cleanup hitter. He announced back in January that Willson Contreras would be the cleanup hitter.