Ken Rosenthal didn't hold back on the Boston Red Sox's overreliance on Roman Anthony following the conclusion of their 2026 campaign.

Boston made the playoffs for the second consecutive year, improving its place as a contender in the American League. They suffered a series loss in the Wild Card round to the New York Yankees, ending their season.

Rosenthal provided his thoughts on Boston's season during an appearance on Foul Territory. He was critical of the team's approach with Anthony, wanting better balance on the roster while noting the star's talents.

“While I apologized to Craig Breslow for some of the things I wrote, I'm not apologizing for this. They asked too much of Roman Anthony. I'm not talking necessarily about the contract. You sign a long-term deal with a kid like that who's that talented. You do it in a heartbeat. What I'm talking about is building this team in a way in which he was asked to do an awful lot, and then it turns out he gets hurt,” Rosenthal said.

“It's fine to sign Roman Anthony to that extension. You're probably going to win as the Red Sox in that deal because, of course, he is a guy that could be a superstar. But the other problem here is you just can't ask that much of a young player to really carry your team. As I wrote then, they were asking him to be David Ortiz. He wasn't ready for that.”

"While I apologized to Craig Breslow for some of the things I wrote, I'm not apologizing for this."@Ken_Rosenthal believes the Red Sox asked too much of Roman Anthony. pic.twitter.com/E5ADOogeXV

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) October 1, 2026

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How Red Sox performed in series against Yankees

The Red Sox will need to bolster the roster with better talents to get past the Wild Card round. However, it will take more than that to elevate to serious contention.

Boston finished with an 87-75 record in the regular season, securing third place in the AL East Division standings. Their results ended up placing in the Wild Card with the Yankees.

However, they were unable to get a win in the series like they did in Game 1 last year. They lost 9-0 in Game 1 then suffered defeat 9-2 in Game 2, suffering the series sweep.