The Boston Red Sox and Roman Anthony are officially racing against the clock.
The rookie phenom was placed on the injured list on Wednesday, according to manager Alex Cora, who said the sweet-swinging outfielder could miss between four and six weeks with a left oblique strain.
A quick look at the calendar reveals the concern with that. It's September. That timeline runs right up against the start of the MLB postseason.
This season, the Wild Card Series (which are best-of-three) begin on Sept. 30.
The Red Sox, as of Wednesday afternoon, are tied with the New York Yankees atop the wild card standings. They're each 2.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East standings.
They aren't in much danger of tumbling out entirely. Boston is 4.5 games up on the third wild card team, Seattle, and 6.0 games up on the first team out, the Rangers.
But the loss of Anthony could stunt some Boston momentum at a critical point in the season.
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Roman Anthony stats
Anthony has been as advertised since coming to the major leagues.
He was the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball at the time of his promotion, and after a brief initial scuffle, he's been a star.
Anthony is batting .292, with an impressive .396 on-base percentage fueled by a great eye and 40 walks.
Anthony has 18 doubles, one triple, eight homers, 32 RBI and four stolen bases. His OPS is .859.
The Red Sox have used Anthony in the outfield and at DH, and often in the leadoff spot.
They've got a deep outfield group, so they don't just have a gaping hole without Anthony. But they lose the guy who might be their most polished hitter despite only being a rookie.
Boston can only hope Anthony's absence is at the front end of that four-to-six week timeline, because for the Red Sox to make playoff noise, they'll need their star rookie.
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