Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony belted another home run with another outrageous exit velocity Tuesday.
The 21-year-old left-handed hitter led off Triple-A Worcester’s game against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 417-foot home run that left his bat at 115.5 mph.
It came after he crushed a 116 mph home run Saturday.
Only 18 balls put in play in the major leagues this season have had a 116 mph exit velocity or harder. Just 23 balls in play this season have had an exit velocity of 115.5 mph or higher.
Red Sox leadoff hitter Jarren Duran (117.7 mph) is tied for the sixth hardest exit velocity in the majors this season.
Kristian Campbell (112.2 mph) has the second hardest exit velocity among Red Sox hitters while Trevor Story (111.7 mph) has the third hardest.
Anthony, who Baseball America ranks the game’s No. 1 prospect, entered Tuesday batting .321 with a .453 on-base percentage, .518 slugging percentage, .971 OPS, seven homers (now eight), eight doubles, two triples, 21 RBIs, 37 runs, 42 walks and 43 strikeouts in 47 games (212 plate appearances).
“I don’t say this lightly — I think he’s the best minor league hitter I’ve ever seen,” Red Sox’ Abraham Toro said earlier this month.
What more does Anthony need to do to push the Red Sox to make the decision to call him up? Manager Alex Cora was asked that question last week.
“That’s a great question. I understand where you’re coming from,” Cora said. “But we are where we’re at. Right now we’ve got some guys here that are playing great baseball. We understand that at one point, I do believe they’re going to be part of this. But as of right now, we haven’t made that decision.”
