BOSTON — Roman Anthony did not hide from the collapse. After the Red Sox lost to the Padres on Sunday, the 21-year-old called Boston’s start to the season “unacceptable,” a blunt message from one of the club’s most watched young players as the losses piled up.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to the fans. It’s unacceptable to the standard we set for ourselves,” Anthony said after the defeat, a day after Boston dropped two of three to San Diego and fell to 2-7 entering play Monday, the worst record in MLB. The Red Sox had already lost their first three series of the 2026 season and were five games back of the Yankees in the AL East before the calendar had even settled into April.
That is why Anthony’s comments carried weight beyond a bad afternoon. Jake Mintz described him as “the most important player on this ball club,” while Jordan Shusterman said Anthony had struggled to start the season himself and noted that Wilyer Abreu “really seems to be the only Red Sox that’s hitting consistently.” Shusterman added that Anthony “coming out here and saying this already is the right thing to do” and said it was “exactly what Red Sox fans do want to hear.”
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The backdrop in Fenway Park made the message sharper. Fans were heard chanting “sell the team” over the weekend, a sign that the frustration has moved well past the standings. Mintz said there has been dissatisfaction in Boston for a while with John Henry and the ownership group, while also saying he could not remember hearing those chants at Fenway before. Shusterman agreed that this was “definitely feeling like a new flavor of that.”
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The tension for Boston is that the schedule does not offer much relief. The Red Sox next host the Brewers for three games, and Milwaukee entered that series tied for the best record in baseball. After that, Boston goes on the road to face St. Louis and Minnesota. Anthony has already said what the fans are thinking. Now the Red Sox have to show whether anyone in the clubhouse can match it.
