Ken Rosenthal Reveals Major Concerns With Red Sox's Offense, Roman Anthony

Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony

Ken Rosenthal Reveals Major Concerns With Red Sox's Offense, Roman Anthony originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Red Sox have gotten off to a sluggish start this season, especially at the plate.

Entering play on Friday, the Red Sox rank 21st in runs per game, 25th in home runs and 19th in OPS. They've been a subpar offense thus far, which is a big reason why they're 4-8 and last in the AL East.

Granted, most of their hitters are slumping right now and should improve as the season progresses. Jarren Duran, Trevor Story, Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer probably aren't going to stay below the Mendoza Line all year and should start hitting eventually.

Regardless, it's fair to wonder if Boston has enough firepower. That was a concern coming into the year, and it remains one two weeks into the season.

Jim Bowden wrote earlier this week that he doesn't think the Red Sox have enough bats, and Ken Rosenthal agrees with him.

"The team I'm worried about offensively is the team I've been worried about offensively all along... That's the Boston Red Sox," Rosenthal said on Friday's episode of "Foul Territory."

"Offensively, I just wonder whether this team has enough. We all know that they have not started great. They're gonna play better, we all know that, too. But, is there enough impact there?" Rosenthal explained. "That's my concern. That's the one team that I look at and I'm still just not sure they're gonna have enough offensively."

Rosenthal's also worried that Boston is putting too much pressure on its young hitters to carry the lineup following the losses of Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers, especially Roman Anthony.

"It seems to me, from the start, they have asked too much of Roman Anthony. Asked him to be essentially a David Ortiz-type impact player," Rosenthal added.

Anthony has that potential, but the Red Sox are asking a lot from a 21-year-old kid with just half a season of Major League experience under his belt. Not surprisingly, he's underperformed to open the season and appears to be pressing at times, batting .217/.308/.348 with one home run, two RBI and 16 strikeouts in 12 games so far.

It goes without saying that once Anthony improves, so will Boston's offense. However, he still may not have enough help around him if his supporting cast continues to struggle.

More MLB: Craig Breslow Explains What's Wrong With Red Sox's Big Offseason Addition