Roman Anthony Issues Own Player Comp After Alex Cora Gaffe

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora opened a can of worms on Saturday.

Cora touched on a number of topics during his media availability at Fenway Fest, but one of the more interesting quips was an assessment of top prospect Roman Anthony. Cora related the youngster to one of his former teammates, with a possible Freudian slip making for a hilarious moment.

“It’s like J.D. Drew, but athletic … or with more energy,” Cora said. “J.D. was a great athlete … so J.D. Drew with energy.”

Anthony was asked about the comparison on Tuesday at Red Sox development camp and shocked many when revealing that he didn’t know much about the 2008 MLB All-Star Game MVP.

“I don’t know much about J.D. Drew’s career,” Anthony said. “I’m gonna be completely honest, but I’ll take it.”

No, you’re not that old. Anthony just happens to still be under the minimum legal drinking age.

Anthony issued some more modern comparisons for himself, a player he might be competing against at some point in 2025.

“I was a huge Christian Yelich fan,” Anthony said. “I think he’s part of the reason why I love the game so much. He’s one guy I’m really excited to meet in my career. Just as a kid, trying to model my game after him being that tall, skinny, awkward kid. I just always saw similarities of myself and him. Him being in left field at the Marlins stadium, we used to always sit that way. He was just a player I gravitated towards and was sad to see go when he left Miami.

“Another one is watching Cody Bellinger when those two (Bellinger and Yelich) were in the MVP race. I’ve been lucky enough to connect with Cody, which was pretty cool. I got to hit with him out in Oklahoma for a few days a few offseasons ago. Just being around guys like that and seeing guys you watch as a kid growing up, it’s great. It’s super motivating. You take a step back and see how far you came as that young kid who was once watching those guys on TV. I’m now hoping to play against them this year.”

OK, maybe you are old.

Anthony is expected to compete for an Opening Day spot in Boston, and will almost certainly make his debut at some point in 2025. Just don’t ask him to do any trivia when he gets up there.