Which Boston Red Sox Outfielder Will Step Up in the Absence of Roman Anthony?

The Boston Red Sox enter a seven-game homestand riding high off of their first sweep of the 2026 season in Detroit. Ahead of Thursday night's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays the team announced that outfielder Roman Anthony would in fact require a trip to the injured list as a result of the right wrist sprain that had kept him out of the lineup for the final two games in Detroit.

Anthony suffered the injury during the first inning of Monday night's game against the Tigers, fouling off a pitch and immediately flexing his right hand. After taking the field in the bottom of the first, Anthony was ultimately pulled from the game and sent back to Boston for evaluation, where he was diagnosed with a wrist sprain. After initially saying he would not require a trip to the injured list, interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters ahead of Thursday night's game that it no longer made sense to continue playing a man short on the bench. Utilityman Mickey Gasper was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take his spot on the active roster.

Anthony's injury presents an opportunity for one of the other four members of Boston's outfield logjam to step up in his place.

Who could step up?

Outfielder/Designated Hitter Masataka Yoshida figures to have the most to gain as a result of the injury to Anthony. The 32-year-old has seen his playing time greatly diminished in the 10 games under Tracy, finding himself relegated to an almost exclusive bench role. Despite getting only two starts in the 10 games since the managerial change, Yoshida has performed well in his limited opportunities, batting .500 in 12 at-bats over almost two weeks since Tracy took over, including a two-hit day in the series finale in Detroit. Yoshida is back in the starting lineup on Thursday night. He'll be the designated hitter and bat fifth.