How Long is Roman Anthony Out? Injury Timeline, Possible Return, Updates on Red Sox Outfielder

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The Boston Red Sox are dealing with a unique injury to superstar outfielder Roman Anthony, who exited the game on May 4 against the Detroit Tigers early after injuring his hand.

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After the game he suffered his injury, Anthony said he "never even had any pain in my hand before, so we'll see what happens." Though manager Chad Tracy said that X-Rays were negative, Anthony was sent back to Boston. 

Though, a month-and-a-half later, Anthony is still out and the optimism surrounding his return has turned into growing concern. What was initially hoped to be a brief absence has stretched into a prolonged stint on the injured list, leaving a massive void in the Red Sox lineup and raising questions about the true nature of his recovery.

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Here are the latest injury updates on the Red Sox star and his projected return.

Roman Anthony injury updates

On June 28, the Red Sox transferred Anthony to the 60-day injured list with his finger injury. When speaking to the media, Anthony said “I wanna play baseball. I’m over sitting here and waiting on a finger. Like it sounds ridiculous to me.”

Earlier in the month, Anthony said that his hand injury is "progressing a lot slower than I had imagined." He went on to say now that he still feels discomfort while swinging.

“It’s the same kind of coming through, as I push through and kind of extend through in a sense, and then turn it over in a way of just a bat, you know, against my hand is still the thing we’re trying to get through," Anthony said. "Seeing progress and it feels like it’s getting stronger. Feeling like I got more there to kind of support the hand and then the ring finger. So, positive in that sense.”

On June 16, it was reported that Anthony still has not resumed swinging, but the MRI showed that his finger is continuing to heal.

On Thursday, May 7, the Red Sox placed Anthony on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Tuesday) with a wrist injury. But, Anthony clarified to reporters that the injury is a sprained ligament under his right ring finger.

After sustaining the injury against Detroit, Anthony was diagnosed with a wrist sprain and was initially day-to-day. But, it's turned into a ring finger injury that has kept him out a prolonged amount of time.

"Just took a swing and it didn't feel good," Anthony said to reporters. "As I came back in and went under to continue to swing, it just was painful."

How long is Roman Anthony out?

It remains unknown when Anthony will return, now six weeks from when he suffered the injury. Anthony said the recovery is normally between six to eight weeks, but "everyone heals differently."

Now that he is on the 60-day injured list, his return is officially pushed back. Because the placement is retroactive to his initial injury date in early May, Anthony is technically eligible to be activated as early as July 5. However, the move is largely procedural to free up a 40-man roster spot, as he has yet to make substantive progress or begin a formal hitting progression due to lingering pain when swinging.

“I think it's anywhere from six to eight weeks, but again, there's been a million different cases of a million different people taking six weeks, eight weeks, 10 weeks, whatever it is,” Anthony said in mid-June. “Everyone heals differently. So my best guess, it would be somewhere around that point, but again, we haven't really talked much about it.”

Per MLB.com, Anthony was eligible to return as soon as May 15 when the Red Sox opened up a trip against the Atlanta Braves, and "that [was] the plan." Now, it's about getting the star back as soon as possible.

Dr. Mark Cohen of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush University told the Boston Globe's Alex Speiser that a typical timetable for a true ligament tear to heal is 8-12 weeks, but also spoke to how unprecedented Anthony’s injury is.

“I’ve been doing this 32 years. I actually have never heard of a ring finger-isolated CMC ligament tear. The joints in which the ligaments get injured are usually not the CMC level," Cohen said. "They’re at the knuckle or joints within the fingers. If you look up ring finger ligament sprain, you’ll find nothing — zero — because it’s not a common injury.”

How Roman Anthony injury impacts Red Sox's lineup 

Entering the offseason, the Red Sox had five outfielders who could start on a daily basis: Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Masataka Yoshida, and Wilyer Abreu.

Now, that depth is a requirement rather than a luxury. Anthony’s exit likely shifts Rafaela into a permanent role in center field, keeping Duran and Abreu in the corners. Yoshida will take the majority of Anthony's at-bats from the DH position.

While the defensive alignment has held its ground, the offense has felt the sting of losing its star sophomore. Compounding the issue, Duran has endured a brutal season at the plate, striking out 96 times through his first 72 games and seeing his average at .200. With the lineup missing Anthony's high-on-base presence, manager Alex Cora has had to lean heavily on the resurgent veteran core and a rotating cast of role players like Nate Eaton and Caleb Durbin.

Boston will need this group to sustain the momentum of their recent four-game sweep of the Yankees, keeping the season afloat while Anthony’s torn finger ligament slowly mends on the sidelines

Roman Anthony stats 2026

CategoryStatGames Played30Plate Appearances130Batting Average (AVG).229On-Base Percentage (OBP).354Slugging Percentage (SLG).321OPS.675Home Runs (HR)1Runs Batted In (RBI)5Stolen Bases (SB)2Walks (BB)20Strikeouts (SO)33

Red Sox upcoming schedule 2026

Here is the schedule for the Red Sox for until the All-Star break:

DateOpponentTime (ET) / StatusJune 29vs. Nationals7:10 PMJune 30vs. Nationals7:10 PMJuly 1vs. Nationals1:35 PMJuly 3at Angels9:38 PMJuly 4at Angels9:38 PMJuly 5at Angels*9:30 PMJuly 7at White Sox7:40 PMJuly 8at White Sox7:40 PMJuly 9at White Sox1:10 PMJuly 10at Mets7:15 PMJuly 11at Mets4:10 PMJuly 12at Mets1:40 PM

*Anthony eligible to return

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