Red Sox dealt tough Roman Anthony lesson amid .699 OPS start

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TL;DR

Roman Anthony of the Boston Red Sox has struggled with a .699 OPS start this season, contrasting sharply with his impressive .859 OPS from last year. Experts suggest he is still developing and not yet a finished product.

Red Sox dealt tough Roman Anthony lesson amid .699 OPS start originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Last season, the Boston Red Sox called up Roman Anthony, and there was a ton of optimism about how much of an impact he could have in the big leagues for Boston.

He immediately produced, accruing 3.1 bWAR in 71 games, hitting eight homers and posting an .859 OPS before an injury cut his season short. This year has been a lot different.

As Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report noted, the Red Sox have been dealt a tough loss with Anthony after his .699 OPS start to the year. Despite how good Anthony can be, he just simply isn't a "finished product yet," according to Rymer.

Red Sox dealt a tough Roman Anthony lesson

"In all, the supposed savior of the Red Sox is really going through it," Rymer writes. "Perhaps there's something to the notion that he was tasked with too much, too soon."

The Red Sox were putting a lot on the 21-year-old's plate this season, and while he lived up to the hype last year, it's not too big of a surprise he's struggling this season.

Anthony has great potential, but he is struggling a good bit this season so far. A .699 OPS and one homer through the first 17 games of the season isn't great, and add in his very suspect defense when it comes to his arm, and the struggles are real.

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Even though this isn't the start the Red Sox were hoping for out of Anthony this season, he's still playing at a decent level, especially with the rest of the lineup struggling in the early goings of the season.

But the team's superstar meant to lead the team, struggling like Anthony has made things seem a fair bit worse than they are.

Boston is 6-11 on the year, one of the worst records in Major League Baseball. But there's time to rebound, and this team has the talent to turn things around.

Anthony will be a big part of such a turnaround, as his current struggles, especially defensively, have been a tough lesson for the Red Sox to learn this season.